Category: International Space Station

Rockets for Commercial Crew Spacecraft Launches Coming Together

Factfloor1Their tail numbers are AV-073 and AV-080 and they are two of the Atlas V rockets expected to make history when they launch Boeing’s CST-100 on a pair of flight tests to set the stage for operational flights in the future carrying astronauts to the International Space Station. The first flight will not carry anyone but will perform orbital checkouts to prove the CST-100 systems. The second flight is to have people aboard and run a mission profile similar to the ones NASA will ask for when it begins regular Commercial Crew missions to the orbiting laboratory. Read the full story at http://go.nasa.gov/1bk4ifJ

 

Go for the View, Stay for the Science

https://vine.co/v/OEpAVVTxj0w

The International Space Station passes around the world once about every 90 minutes giving astronauts and cosmonauts spectacular views like this one that shows a pass over America with the familiar Florida peninsula in the frame. Florida will be the launch site for the next generation of American-built spacecraft carrying astronauts to the station. They won’t be going just for the chance to look on the world below, though. Like the current crew, station residents spend their day on station work and research. The new spacecraft from Boeing and SpaceX will increase the research performed on the station by adding a seventh crewmember. With seven people aboard, the research work will double from the current 40 hours a week to 80.

CCtCap Contracts Available Online

NASA released redacted versions of the contracts the agency signed with Boeing and SpaceX in September 2014 to begin the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability phase of final development and certification work. The contracts outline goals and obligations that both NASA and the providers agreed to, however, the focus of the agency’s involvement is not just in milestones but in the day-to-day work the NASA team is performing. The agency’s efforts revolve around understanding the providers’ designs and ensuring progress is being made toward meeting safety and performance requirements before crew flight tests and missions to the International Space Station.

– Boeing-CCtCap-Contract here.

– SpaceX-CCtCap-Contract here.

Get to Know the International Docking Adapters

Astronauts Terry Virts and Barry Wilmore will make the third spacewalk Sunday to complete the first in a series of work to outfit the International Space Station with the mechanisms needed for Commercial Crew spacecraft to dock to the orbiting laboratory. The two adapters were built by Boeing and will be carried to the station on upcoming SpaceX cargo missions. The adapters will serve the Boeing CST-100 and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft when they fly astronauts to the station.

During Sunday’s spacewalk, Virts and Wilmore will deploy 400 feet of cable along the truss of the station and install antennas as part of the new Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles system that will provide rendezvous and navigational data to visiting vehicles approaching the station, including the new U.S. commercial crew vehicles.

NASA TV coverage Sunday will begin at 6 a.m. EST. The spacewalk will begin around 7:10 a.m. and is expected to last about 6 hours, 45 minutes. NASA TV is available online at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

Commercial Crew Bookmarks are Here!

bookmark-spacexbookmark-boeingbookmark-combined
Pick up a book this weekend if you’re cooped up inside from the rain or tired of shoveling snow and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will help you keep your place in it using one of our new bookmarks.

We have three – one for the program and one for each of our Commercial Crew Transportation Capability providers. They can be downloaded by clicking on their respective pictures on the right.

Engineer Applies Knowledge to School Role

stover-profile3-croppedSafety engineer Billy Stover is part of the NASA team making the new generation of commercial spacecraft safe. He will use the same determination and open-minded approach as he supports the Brevard County School Board make the best capital improvements to the school system.

“It’s all about problem-solving – life is all about problem solving,” Stover said. “I’m going to bring my set of project management skills to a different environment, the schools. Each company, each organization has its own culture. To me it’s all about getting the task done as efficiently as possible with the people being as effective as they can be.”

Read the details here.

Construction Underway on Crew Access Tower

CCP-towercloseupBoeing, United Launch Alliance, NASA and other organizations were represented today for the ceremonial start of construction on the first new crew access tower at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station since the 1960s. The 200-foot-tall structure will be crucial to allowing astronauts to board Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft as it sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. You can read our account of today’s groundbreaking ceremony for a new crew access tower at SLC-41 along with all the details about the structure and what it means to American spaceflight here. 

 

Scenes from Today’s Groundbreaking

2015-1452
Bob Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director, in sunglasses, talks about the design of the Commercial Crew Access Tower at Space Launch Complex-41 with Jim Sponnick of United Launch Alliance. United Launch Alliance is building the new structure in partnership with Boeing, the operator of the CST-100 spacecraft. The tower will be built between launches of the Atlas V rocket on other missions. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
2015-1453
Howard Biegler, Launch Operations lead of Human Launch Services for United Launch Alliance, shows members of news media the area at Space Launch Complex 41 where the Commercial Crew Access Tower will be built. The 200-foot-tall structure is designed to provide safe access by flight and ground crews to the Boeing CST-100 spacecraft at the pad. The tower will be built between launches of the ULA Atlas V rocket on other missions.
2015-1454
Officials take part in the formal groundbreaking at Space Launch Complex 41 where the Commercial Crew Access Tower will be built. The 200-foot-tall structure is designed to provide safe access for flight and ground crews to the Boeing CST-100 spacecraft at the pad. The tower will be built between launches of the ULA Atlas V rocket on other missions. The participants in the groundbreaking are, from left, John Mulholland, vice president of Boeing commercial programs, John Elbon, Boeing vice president and general manager of Space Exploration, Jim Sponnick, vice president of Atlas and Delta programs for ULA, Bob Cabana, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Col. Shawn Fairhurst, vice commander of the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, Jim Kuzma, chief operating officer of Space Florida and Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.
2015-1451
Participants in the groundbreaking ceremony at Space Launch Complex-41 gather at the launch pad where the Commercial Crew Access Tower is being built for future missions launching astronauts to the International Space Station. United Launch Alliance is building the new structure in partnership with Boeing, the operator of the CST-100 spacecraft. The tower will be built between launches of the Atlas V rocket on other missions. Pictured are, from left, Adam Morgan of Boeing, John Mulholland, vice president of Boeing commercial programs, John Elbon, Boeing vice president and general manager of Space Exploration, Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, Bob Cabana, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Jim Kuzma, chief operating officer of Space Florida, Col. Shawn Fairhurst, vice commander of the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, Jim Sponnick, vice president of Atlas and Delta programs for ULA, and Lyn Chassagne of ULA. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett