NASA – Page 116 – Commercial Crew Program

SpaceX Unveils Dragon V2

The Dragon spacecraft, designed to carry people into Earth’s orbit, received a few upgrades as SpaceX refines its vehicle in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Today, SpaceX revealed these changes as it unveiled the Dragon V2 at the company’s Hawthorne, California, headquarters.

Vehicle upgrades include solar arrays that will be affixed to the side of the spacecraft’s trunk instead of on fold-out wings and a new launch escape system that will allow crew members to escape an anomaly at any point during flight. The vehicle is intended to ferry seven astronauts, along with critical cargo and supplies.

Other upgrades include larger windows, a larger hatch, and a redesigned outer mold line, which could make the trip more comfortable for passengers destined for orbit.

SpaceX is one of NASA’s commercial partners working to develop a new generation of U.S. spacecraft and rockets capable of transporting humans to and from Earth’s orbit from American soil. Ultimately, NASA intends to use such commercial systems to fly U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Space Station Experiments Back on Earth

Three sets of completed science experiments from the International Space Station are back on Earth and headed to their principal investigators for further study. The three experiments studied biological aspects of long-duration spaceflight, something for which the space station is uniquely suited. Known as BRIC-18, Biotube-MICRo and APEX-02-2, the projects were carried to the station aboard the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission.

The astronauts on the station unloaded the payloads, conducted the research and repacked the spent experiments inside the capsule for safe return to Earth almost a month later.

Such research is vital for NASA’s plans to send astronauts into deep space to explore asteroids and Mars, missions that would last weeks, months and years. Enabling more of that research by providing more crew members and time to conduct it in space is one of the goals of the Commercial Crew Program which is partnering with aerospace industry to develop spacecraft to carry astronauts to low-Earth orbit.

For more details about the payloads and research detail, check out the in-depth feature at http://go.nasa.gov/1kkoxvc

Boeing Offers CST-100 Details

Boeing continues to develop the CST-100 in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft is designed to launch humans to low-Earth orbit and return them safely. The aerospace company says it is drawing from its experiences designing airliners for CST-100’s interior and other elements of the new spacecraft.

NASA: Explorers Seek Adventure

Space Station Science Forum Today on NASA TV

Researchers and NASA managers will discuss details today about the extensive array of scientific work that has been under way on the International Space Station during an hourlong forum to be broadcast on NASA TV beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

The research covers a wide area of specialties and specific experiments are chosen for inclusion in the station’s manifest based on a wide number of criteria. The factors include evaluating how the research can help NASA understand and prepare for the conditions humans will face when astronauts venture beyond Earth orbit in coming years to explore asteroids and Mars.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program could enable a boost in the amount of future research on the orbiting laboratory by allowing a larger crew to work on the station, thus increasing the amount of time astronauts can devote to scientific duties.

Watch NASA TV to find out more, or go to www.nasa.gov/ntv to watch online.

What Name Would You Choose?

sigma7paintingofthelogo — Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra watches as the name “Sigma 7” is painted on his capsule. Photo credit: NASA

Alan Shepard was the first astronaut to name his spacecraft. He chose “Freedom 7,” a reference to the space race that was just starting between the United States and the Soviet Union when Shepard went into space on May 5, 1961. Since then, astronauts named each of their spacecraft including the iconic “Eagle” that landed men on the moon for the first time in 1969. NASA dubbed its five space shuttles Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. The next generation of crewed spacecraft built by NASA’s industry partners chose Space Vehicle (Blue Origin), CST-100 (Boeing), Dream Chaser (Sierra Nevada Corporation) and Dragon (SpaceX). If you had a spacecraft, what would you name it?

Bloomberg TV’s “The Next Space Race”

Bloomberg Television took an up-close look at the work NASA’s industry partners are performing to produce the next American spacecraft capable of carrying humans to low-Earth orbit destinations. Bloomberg examined NASA’s partnerships with The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation and SpaceX and what the effort means to America’s goals in space exploration. You can watch the full 23-minute report here.

Miss Kathy Lueders’ Interview? Watch it now

Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, talked to Kyle Herring at Mission Control in Houston for this segment of Space Station Live. She details the plans and expectations for CCP and how they fit in with NASA’s overall stepping-stone approach for astronauts to explore deeper into space.

Spaceport Magazine Includes SNC Wind Tunnel Testing

Open the newest issue of Kennedy Space Center’s Spaceport Magazine to read about the detailed work that goes into testing spacecraft models, in this case the Dream Chaser under development by Sierra Nevada Corporation in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This is the second edition of the redesigned publication, and it also includes stories about the launch of the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, Firing Room 4’s metamorphosis and NASA’s plans to develop the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025. It’s available in the digital newsstand and at Spaceport Magazine.

Watch Kathy Lueders on Space Station Live at 11 Today

Tune in to Space Station Live on NASA TV at 11 a.m. EDT to see Kathy Lueders’ interview about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and how it is progressing. Lueders was recently named manager of CCP. You can watch NASA TV on your provider or catch it online at nasa.gov/ntv.

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