NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says American rockets will finally launch Americans into orbit again next year.
Since the last space shuttle, Atlantis, carried a crew to the orbiting lab in 2011, NASA has been forced to pay Russia $82m a seat to ferry astronauts on Soyuz rockets.
Bridenstine told USA Today said he is now confident planned programmes by Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX will go ahead next year, despite numerous delays to the ‘commercial crew’ program.
NASA has revealed the nine astronauts that will soon take to space aboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon. From left: Suni Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Bob Behnken, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover
‘Without question, by the middle of next year, we’ll be flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,’ he told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview at NASA headquarters.
‘We’re so close.’
SpaceX and Boeing are contracted under its Commercial Crew program to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.
However, both firms have been faced with delays.
Gwynne Shotwell, president of the aerospace manufacturing company, recently said an unmanned flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in November would pave the way for SpaceX’s first manned mission in April 2019.
‘Predicting launch dates could make a liar out of the best of us. I hope I am not proven to be a liar on this one,’ she told journalists during a briefing in Los Angeles.
The pledge from the firm, which is spearheaded by multi-billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, is in stark contrast to an independent report from the US government.
The government report, published in July, claimed it was highly unlikely SpaceX would be able to send astronauts to the ISS next year.
However, SpaceX president Ms Shotwell said the mission is scheduled to go ahead as planned as soon as SpaceX was ‘ready to fly these folks safely.’
NASA recently revealed the nine astronauts that will soon take to space aboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, to pioneer a ‘new era in American spaceflight.’
The space agency introduced the crew assigned to the flight tests of the two new capsules in a press conference held at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
The move means NASA will finally be able to launch crewed missions from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade.
SpaceX and Boeing’s first Commercial Crew flight tests will be led by astronauts: Eric Boe, Chris Ferguson, Nicole Aunapu Mann, Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, Josh Cassada, Suni Williams, Victor Glover, and Mike Hopkins.
For astronauts Cassada and Mann, the milestone missions will also mark their first ever space flights.
It’s set to be a major turning point for American space exploration; a crewed mission hasn’t launched from US soil since 2011.
‘For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts, on American rockets, from American soil,’ NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during the conference.
Both Boeing and SpaceX’s missions will begin with a crew flight test.
For Boeing, this will be led by astronauts Eric Boe, Chris Ferguson, and Nicole Mann, who will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in mid-2019.
In this crucial test, the crew will dock and undock autonomously to the International Space Station before returning to Earth.
Boeing will then send astronauts Josh Cassada and Suni Williams to the ISS, where they will live and work for the rest of their mission before heading back to Earth at a later time.
SpaceX’s crew flight test will be led by astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, with plans to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in April 2019.
As with Boeing’s test, the Crew Dragon will dock and undock to the ISS autonomously, before returning to Earth.
Then, SpaceX will send astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins to the ISS for their mission on the orbiting lab.
‘We no longer have to rely on our Russian partners to get to the ISS,’ Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana said in the press conference Friday morning.
‘This is truly an exciting time for human space flight in our nation. And believe me, it’s only going to get better as we charge off into our future.’
SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell said it was ‘a sacred honor’ to be taking part in the missions.
‘We’re not gong to let you down,’ Shotwell said, bidding the group: ‘Ad Astra’ [to the stars].
From left: Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Chris Ferguson Targeted to launch in mid-2019 aboard a Starliner spacecraft. The test will be Mann’s first space flight
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will launch in April 2019 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket
While Boeing initially planned to conduct its first crew flight test later this year, it confirmed earlier this week that an anomaly was detected during a recent test of the launch abort vehicles, forcing them to push back their target.
The firm will instead launch its first crewed test in 2019.
According to Boeing, the incident occurred during a hot-fire test of the engines used in the Starliner abort system.
Both companies have been conducting extensive testing campaigns ahead of the plans for human spaceflight.
SpaceX is currently eyeing November 2018 for its first crewed demonstration mission with the Crew Dragon, followed by its first flight to the ISS in April 2019, with two astronauts on board.
Boeing will send astronauts Josh Cassada and Suni Williams to the ISS, where they will live and work for the rest of their mission before heading back to Earth months later. This will be Cassada’s first space flight
Then, SpaceX will send astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins to the ISS for their mission on the orbiting lab
Boeing plans to fly a crewed test early next year as well, before sending crew to the ISS mid-2019.
While uncrewed flight tests were not required, both Boeing and SpaceX have volunteered to perform them before adding astronauts.
‘This was above and beyond the NASA requirement in the contract,’ said Kathy Lueders, Commercial Crew Program manager at NASA Kennedy.
‘Both partners said they really wanted to have an uncrewed flight test to make sure the integrated rockets, spacecraft and re-entry systems are all working as designed to be able to ensure the integrated system is functioning.’
NASA launched its first space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1), from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981.
In the three decades that followed, the space agency deployed a total of 135 missions from US soil.
Boeing (Starliner pictured left) plans to fly an uncrewed mission early next year, with plans to add crew mid-2019. SpaceX is currently eyeing November 2018 for its first demo mission with the Crew Dragon (right), followed by its first crewed flight to the ISS in April 2019
After the shuttle program was retired in 2011, the agency has relied on Russian modules to send astronauts to space.
With the upcoming tests, NASA is now closer than it has been in nearly a decade to launching astronauts from the US, aboard capsules made here at home.
‘I’m excited to be part of the future of space travel,’ said Jon Cowart, acting deputy manager for the Commercial Crew Program’s Mission Management and Integration office at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
‘When we get to this point the companies will have tested every piece of the spacecraft individually, but there is so much more learning that occurs when the spacecraft is actually operated in space.
‘The systems will be operated in the actual environment to test it and ensure it’s ready for crew.’