nasa outlines the final steps in plan for next manned spaceships

8/13/2019 NASA Outlines the Final Steps in Plan for Next Manned Spaceships

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NASA outlines the final steps

in plan for next manned

spaceships

As promised, NASA issued the formal invitation on

Tuesday for a competition leading to new types of

commercial spaceships that could carry astronauts to and

from the International Space Station.

Three of the invitees have a multimillion-dollar head

start.

NASA expects the final phase of the competition

nown as the !ommercial !rew Transport !apa"ility

program, or !!t!A# to result in a fleet of commercial

spacecraft that are certified to transport crew "y $%&'. The

space agency would prefer to have more than one provider

for those transport services, "ut that might depend on how

much funding is availa"le.

The timeta"le and resources availa"le for commercial

spaceships are ey sticing points that are left unresolved in

Tuesday(s re)uest for proposals. *ast wee, NASA

Administrator !harles +olden called on !ongressto provide

the full $& million re)uested for the current fiscal year to

eep us on trac to "egin these launches in $%&'.

!ongress, however, has proposed spending hundreds of

millions of dollars less.

+uilding on earlier phases

/uring earlier phases of the competition, NASA committeditself to spending more than a "illion dollarsto support the

development of crew-capa"le space transport systems "y

three companies0 Space1, the +oeing !o. and Sierra Nevada

!orp. Those same three companies have already "een

granted a"out &% million each for #hase & of the !!t!A#

certification process, which focuses on flight safety and

performance re)uirements.

follow(http://www.plurk.com/searchkeywords
https://prod.nais.nasa.gov/eps/eps_data/158768-SOL-001-001.pdfhttp://www.nbcnews.com/science/moon-nasa-passes-torch-space-commercialization-2D11591042http://www.nbcnews.com/science/nasa-announces-1-1-billion-support-trio-spaceships-921338http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.plurk.com/searchkeywordshttp://www.nbcnews.com/science/moon-nasa-passes-torch-space-commercialization-2D11591042http://www.nbcnews.com/science/nasa-announces-1-1-billion-support-trio-spaceships-921338http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/cpc-awards.htmlhttp://www.plurk.com/searchkeywordshttps://prod.nais.nasa.gov/eps/eps_data/158768-SOL-001-001.pdf


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http://b.hatena.ne.jp/searchkeywords )

+oeing !o.

+oeing(s !ST-&%% crew capsule is shown in an artist(s

conception.

SN!

This is how Sierra Nevada !orp.(s /ream !haser space planewould loo doced to the International Space Station.
http://b.hatena.ne.jp/searchkeywordshttp://b.hatena.ne.jp/searchkeywords


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Space1

Space1(s crew-capa"le /ragon capsule is in the foreground

of this artist(s conception, which also shows a portion of the

International Space Station. *ie the !ST-&%% and the /ream

!haser, the /ragon is designed to accommodate up to seven

astronauts.

In Tuesday(s documents, NASA said #hase $ of the process

would "e open to all comers "ut first they(d have to

demonstrate that they measured up to the re)uirements for

#hase &. NASA said applications for #hase $ funding should

"e su"mitted "y 2an. $$. The agency expects to award one

or more contracts "y next Septem"er.

NASA said the re)uirements for certification will include at

least one crewed test flight to the International Space

Station. That suggests that the first people to arrive at the

station a"oard the new spaceships would "e private-sector

test pilots rather than NASA astronauts. The contracts

would also call for at least two and as many as six crewed,

post-certification missions to ena"le NASA to meet its

station crew rotation re)uirements, the agency said in a

news release.

The concept "ehind the commercial crew program is that the

cost of "uying services more cheaply from private-sector

providers would "e less than the cost of operating a new

governmental fleet of spaceships.

That(s the way it(s wored out for cargo deliveries to the

space station0 Space1 and 3r"ital Sciences !orp., for

example, won contracts to fly $% ro"otic resupply flights for

4.5 "illion. The cost averages out to &'5 million per flight
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/november/nasa-advances-effort-to-launch-astronauts-again-from-us-soil-to-space-station/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28371103/http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/november/nasa-advances-effort-to-launch-astronauts-again-from-us-soil-to-space-station/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28371103/


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which is less than the space shuttle program(s cost of

6' million to &.5 "illion per flight 7depending on how you

count the costs8.

!urrently, NASA has to fly its astronauts on the three-seat9ussian Soyu: spacecraft, at a cost that(s due to rise "eyond

'% million per seat"y $%&;. That price tag effectively

translates into a cost of $&% million per flight, although it(s

dicey to delve too deeply into the economics of the 9ussian

space program.

Seeing safety and value

NASA is committed to launching American astronauts from

nasa outlines the final steps in plan for next manned spaceships

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