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Almost nine years have passed since a US vehicle launched astronauts into orbit. This month SpaceX and NASA aim to change that in a unprecedented test flight six years in manufacturing.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley should be launched at International Space Station from Florida aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on May 27. A manned US spacecraft last accessed the laboratory in orbit in 2011. Since then, NASA astronauts have launched Russian Soyuz vehicles while NASA stewed in silence. Of the 20 years that the space station has been continuously inhabited, the United States has been without a crew vehicle capable of reaching the laboratory in orbit for nearly half of that period.
“We need to make sure we keep [the space station] crew, “said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine during a press conference today (May 1).” That’s what the commercial crew is all about. This is a new generation, a new era in human space flight. “
Related: How SpaceX overcame obstacles on the way to the historic launch of the first crew
The launch later this month has been in progress since 2014, when NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing under the agency Commercial Crew Program. But delay after delay has affected the program, and none of the companies have attempted to launch humans yet.
Slow progress has forced NASA to Continue buying Soyuz seats from Russia, most recently for a launch in April 2020, after SpaceX and Boeing failed to launch astronauts in 2019.
Bridenstine said during today’s press conference that he expects a deal for a Soyuz seat at an October launch to be finalized in a few days, and that the agency could look to buy another on a flight by spring 2021. Meanwhile, just a NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, is currently in space; but the American side of the station requires four crew members to achieve their specific scientific productivity.
“Chris is an amazing astronaut, he is working very hard, but there is more work than Chris can do,” said Kirk Shireman, program manager for the International Space Station Program at NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas, during the Press conference.
“This launch is our next step toward increasing Americans, and it really human presence aboard the lab, “said Shireman.” It really is critical. We are very interested in significantly increasing the amount of crew time and the amount of performance that we could do, this valuable research that we could do on board the International Space Station, things that cannot be done anywhere else. “
To try to create as much time as possible for the crew of this test flight, Shireman said, the duration of the mission will be evaluated after launch. The decision will be based on SpaceX’s completion work on the capsule for its first full manned mission, which will carry NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover Jr. and Shannon Walker, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
“What we would like to do from a station perspective is to keep [Behnken and Hurley] in orbit as long as we can until the Crew-1 vehicle is almost ready to depart, “Shireman said. But NASA cannot certify Crew Dragon for human flights until Demo-2 lands, and future missions cannot be launched. without that Certification.
That compensation underscores the fact that Demo-2 flight is just that: a demonstration, despite the science that NASA expects astronauts to do in orbit. However, his first priority is to break into a new vehicle, one that humans have never flown before, a rare process in the history of space flight.
“We think of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and so space shuttle: Those are really the four times in history that we have put humans on new spaceships, and now we are doing it for the fifth time, “Bridenstine said, noting that it will be the ninth global flight of a new manned spacecraft.” It’s been a long time since we’ve put humans on a whole new spaceship, but that’s what it is. And it’s really a test flight, to be very clear. “
SpaceX also feels the pressure.
“My heart is sitting here,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, with her finger just below her chin. “And I think it will stay there until we get Bob and Doug safely back from the International Space Station. But every now and then there is still work to be done.”
Shotwell referenced a specific task that SpaceX must address before launch: a final parachute test That was completed during press conferences. Both SpaceX and NASA also have several flight readiness reviews to clear before manned launch is approved. That said, SpaceX can rely on its nearly 10 years of experience visiting the space station with 21 unmanned spacecraft.
“This is one of many exciting and difficult days before us,” said Kathy Leuders, program manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during the press conference. “The Gwynne team and my team are working diligently to prepare the vehicles, making sure all the i are dotted and intersect in our analysis, test data, evaluations, reviewing all of our reviews, and making sure we are ready for this important mission. “
But neither delays nor to-do do keep emotion at bay.
“I can’t tell you how exciting this day is for us,” said Leuders. “Gwynne and I have been waiting for this for a while.”
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us On twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook.
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