{"id":12901,"date":"2019-10-10T20:55:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T12:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-chief-says-spacex-properly-focused-on-crew-dragon\/"},"modified":"2019-10-10T20:55:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T12:55:05","slug":"nasa-chief-says-spacex-properly-focused-on-crew-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-chief-says-spacex-properly-focused-on-crew-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA chief says SpaceX properly focused on Crew Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_41157\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41157\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-41157\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48877377823_0bc5dac363_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48877377823_0bc5dac363_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48877377823_0bc5dac363_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48877377823_0bc5dac363_k-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48877377823_0bc5dac363_k-678x451.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41157\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, center, speaks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, right, while viewing an \u201cOctaWeb\u201d for one of SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rockets. Credit: NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX\u2019s California rocket factory Thursday, toured the sprawling facility with founder Elon Musk and told reporters he is optimistic the company will be ready to launch the first piloted test flight of its Crew Dragon spaceship in the first quarter of next year.<\/p>\n<p>But he cautioned that optimism assumes SpaceX has no major problems with upcoming tests of redesigned parachutes along with ground and in-flight tests of the Crew Dragon\u2019s powerful emergency abort system. A Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed in an explosion during a test of that system last April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a big deal for our country, we can\u2019t get it wrong and in fact, we have to get it right,\u201d Bridenstine said, standing with Musk in front of a clean room where Crew Dragon spacecraft are assembled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are key messages, that we believe it can be done in the first quarter of next year, but we are not going to take any undue risk because the safety of our astronauts and the success of the mission is the highest priority. And remember, this first flight with a crew is a test flight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine\u2019s visit came less than two weeks after Musk showed off SpaceX\u2019s futuristic new Starship launcher in south Texas, a prototype of a new rocket system he says will eventually replace the company\u2019s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters.<\/p>\n<p>The day before the event, Bridenstine posted a tweet many interpreted as a jab of sorts at SpaceX, implying the company needed to focus more on its NASA-funded Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ship, which has encountered technical problems and delays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am looking forward to the SpaceX announcement tomorrow,\u201d Bridenstine tweeted. \u201cIn the meantime, Commercial Crew is years behind schedule. NASA expects to see the same level of enthusiasm focused on the investments of the American taxpayer. It\u2019s time to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 76px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1177711106300747777&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2019%2F10%2F10%2Fnasa-chief-says-spacex-properly-focused-on-crew-dragon%2F&amp;sessionId=8404074e4f22ac11167f218591ab7a0f268d5bb6&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1177711106300747777\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782697267876565927=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My statement on @SpaceX&#8217;s announcement tomorrow: pic.twitter.com\/C67MhSeNsa<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) September 27, 2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>At the Starship event and again Thursday, Musk said SpaceX was only devoting about 5 percent of the company\u2019s resources on the new launch system and that Crew Dragon remains the California rocket builder\u2019s top priority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrew Dragon is absolutely the overwhelming priority,\u201d he assured Bridenstine Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Since the space shuttle\u2019s final flight in 2011, NASA has been forced to rely on Russia to ferry U.S. and partner astronauts to and from the International Space Station at prices that eventually climbed to more than $80 million per seat.<\/p>\n<p>To end that sole reliance on Russia for space transportation, NASA announced on Sept. 16, 2014, that SpaceX and Boeing would share $6.8 billion to develop independent space taxis, the first new U.S. crewed spacecraft since the shuttle was designed in the 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>Both companies were required to fly two test flights, one unpiloted and one with a crew, before beginning operational crew rotation flights to the space station. NASA intended for one or both companies to be flying well before this year, but funding shortfalls in Congress and technical problems led to repeated delays for both companies.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_37342\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37342\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37342\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/crewdragon_depart1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/crewdragon_depart1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/crewdragon_depart1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/crewdragon_depart1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/crewdragon_depart1-678x381.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37342\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crew Dragon spacecraft backs away from the International Space Station after undocking on an unpiloted test flight in March. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As it now stands, NASA only has one more seat booked on a Soyuz, a flight scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan next March or early April. Depending on how long it takes Boeing and SpaceX to complete remaining tests and begin operational crew rotation flights, the space agency may be forced to buy additional Soyuz seats from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want to have to pay $85 million every time we launch an American astronaut on a Soyuz rocket,\u201d Bridenstine said. But, he added, NASA must \u201cmake sure that we do not have a day when we don\u2019t have American astronauts on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019ll be continuing to work with Roscosmos to ensure that we do have American astronauts on the International Space Station as an insurance policy, because there\u2019s still some learning left to do between now and launching commercial crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But he hopes it will not come to that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf everything goes according to plan, we may not need additional Soyuz seats,\u201d he said. While problems are not unexpected in a complex development program, \u201cI will say we\u2019re getting very close, and we\u2019re very confident that in the first part of next year we\u2019ll be ready to launch American astronauts on American rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boeing\u2019s first piloted test flight, whenever it flies, will carry a two-man one-woman crew to the station for a full six-month tour of duty. The agency is considering an extension of some sort for SpaceX\u2019s first piloted mission to help keep the station fully staffed until operational flights commence.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX holds NASA contacts valued at $3.04 billion for 20 space station resupply flights using its Dragon cargo ships \u2014 18 have launched to date \u2014 and another contract for an unspecified amount for at least six additional flights through 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The company is building the Crew Dragon under a separate $2.6 billion contract. Like the earlier cargo version, the Crew Dragon capsule will ride into orbit atop the company\u2019s partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket and return to Earth with an ocean splashdown.<\/p>\n<p>On March 2, SpaceX successfully launched a Crew Dragon on an unpiloted test flight \u2014 Demo-1 \u2014 to the space station. The same capsule then was to be launched on a short flight to test its Super Draco emergency abort system earlier this summer. But during a ground test April 20, the spacecraft exploded an instant before motor ignition, destroying the capsule and putting future flights on hold.<\/p>\n<p>Engineers traced the problem to leakage in a valve in the propellant pressurization system. Musk said Thursday the system had been upgraded and redesigned to isolate the Super Draco plumbing from the capsule\u2019s lower-power maneuvering thrusters. Another ground test firing is expected later this month to verify the redesign.<\/p>\n<p>If the static firing goes well, SpaceX will launch the ship for an unpiloted in-flight abort test in November or December to demonstrate the spacecraft\u2019s ability to propel a crew to safety in the event of a catastrophic booster failure early in flight when aerodynamic stresses are most severe.<\/p>\n<p>Those tests will come amid ongoing work to complete a series of parachute drop tests. If no major problems develop \u2014 and if extensive reviews with NASA confirm good results \u2014 the company will be able to press ahead with launch of the first piloted test flight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people see what happened back in April and have concerns, and of course there have been a lot of concerns about parachutes as well,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cWhere we are today is a very positive position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The administrator said he met with SpaceX workers during his tour \u201cwho are making the necessary adjustments to ensure safety. I got to see them, I got to shake their hands, I got to see the work that they have done, and all that is very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine said he and Musk \u201chave had a number of conversations on the phone about what needs to happen in order to meet the highest priority, which is launching American astronauts again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first piloted Crew Dragon flight, known as Demo-2, will carry veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who served as co-pilot for the final shuttle mission in 2011. Both attended Thursday\u2019s event with Musk and Bridenstine and both expressed confidence in the company\u2019s ability to deliver a safe spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese things happen,\u201d Hurley said of the April explosion. \u201cWhile it\u2019s disappointing, it also can be a real gift to the final design. \u2026 The team mobilized incredibly, both on the NASA side and the SpaceX side, to come up with why this happened, what can we do to fix it, how can we rebuild the capsule and make it safer for crews in the future. And that\u2019s exactly what they\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boeing, the station\u2019s prime contractor, is designing an Apollo-style capsule under a $4.2 billion contract. The CST-100 Starliner capsules will launch atop Atlas 5 rockets built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n<p>The Boeing spacecraft is designed to carry four astronauts to and from the space station and to remain in orbit for up to six months before descending to a touchdown at one of five landing sites in the western United States.<\/p>\n<p>After wrestling with problems with the capsule\u2019s parachute system, propulsion equipment and other issues, Boeing plans to launch a CST-100 around Nov. 4 from White Sands, N.M., company officials say, firing its powerful abort motors at ground level to demonstrate the system\u2019s ability to propel a crew to safety after a catastrophic low-altitude booster failure.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming that test goes well, Boeing plans to launch an unpiloted CST-100 atop an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral around Dec. 17, kicking off the required test flight to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>The unpiloted test flight is known as \u201cOFT,\u201d for orbital flight test. The first piloted test flight, known as CFT, will carry a crew of three: former shuttle commander Chris Ferguson, now a Boeing vice president, and NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann.<\/p>\n<p>It is not known when that mission might get off the ground, but sources say it likely will not happen before the spring timeframe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, center, speaks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, right, while viewing an \u201cOctaWeb\u201d for one of SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rockets. Credit: NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX\u2019s California rocket factory Thursday, toured the sprawling facility with founder Elon Musk and told reporters he is optimistic the company will be ready [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2125,524,235,2126,2268,2127,1045,479],"class_list":["post-12901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bob-behnken","tag-commercial-crew","tag-crew-dragon","tag-crew-dragon-demo-2","tag-crew-dragon-in-flight-abort","tag-doug-hurley","tag-elon-musk","tag-falcon-9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}