December 2016 – Commercial Crew Program

Commercial Crew Program Completes Year of Transition

The past year marked a substantial transition for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and its partners as they moved from design of critical elements and systems in previous years to the manufacturing of the spacecraft and launch vehicles. Working on independent spacecraft and launch systems, Boeing and SpaceX made substantial modifications to launch complexes in Florida and performed the first integrated simulations of the teams that will oversee the flights. Along the way, advances were overseen by NASA engineers and the astronauts who will fly the spacecraft into orbit for the flight tests. Read about the dynamic 2016 achievements here.

Commercial Crew’s Winter Wonderland

Take a break this holiday season with this Commercial Crew Program-inspired coloring sheet! Featuring Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, the scene plays out in a snowy environment quite unlike the typical climate of Florida’s Space Coast, where the companies will launch Commercial Crew Program missions to the International Space Station.

And don’t forget to download your own copy of the 2017 Children’s Artwork Calendar from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program! It features drawings from children all over the world as they imagine scenes of spaceflight playing out.

Children’s Artwork Calendar Now Available for Download!

Our new Children’s Artwork Calendar is here and you can download and print your own right now! This is the same calendar that will be transmitted to the International Space Station where astronauts will be able to see it and put it to their own use. Kids from all over America and around the world (Hello Romania!) submitted wonderful and creative artwork.

For NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the calendar will mark the progress of a vital and important year as NASA and our industry partners – Boeing and SpaceX work toward establishing a new American capability to launch astronauts from the United States to the space station. A robust and vibrant space program will depend tremendously on the hard work our engineers, technicians and spaceflight specialists put in during this pivotal year.

So thank you children for sharing your own hard work with us and helping inspire us every day and with every page turn of this calendar!