NASA Taking AMERICA Into Space Yet Again

“For the first time since 2011 we are on the brink of launching American astronauts from American rockets on American soil,” said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator.
Since 2012, NASA has partnered up with SpaceX and Boeing to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station(ISS). In 2015, NASA created the next space race between the two private companies as a way to further our knowledge, exploration, and American representation in space.
At SpaceX, they are using a spacecraft called Dragon to ship remarkable amounts of cargo to the ISS. In fact, in 2012, Dragon became the first private spacecraft to the space station.
NASA has awarded SpaceX and Boeing, with a contract enabling them to create Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and upgrade SpaceX’s Dragon, to transport humans as well as cargo.
August 3, 2018, NASA announced that Bob Behnken and Doug Harley will be the first two astronauts to launch dragon and mark SpaceX in history as the first operational crew mission under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capacity Contract with NASA. Astronauts Mike Hopkins a space-time veteran and Victor Glover a first-time flier, where chosen to fly on later missions on the commercial spacecraft.
NASA’s chosen astronaut team to fly Starliner on their first mission is Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, along with NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Mann. On a later mission, space-time veteran Sunni Williams and first-time flier Josh Cassada will fly the Starliner.
During the Commercial Crew Program Assignment Announcement, Jim Bridenstine said,
“These astronauts don’t just fly the vehicles they’re involved in the development of the vehicles. they work side-by-side with the companies as they’re making very critical decisions for their safety and for the capabilities of the vehicles.”
As final decisions are being made, SpaceX will launch its first unmanned demonstration around November 2018. The Dragon’s first crew mission has been targeted for April 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Even though SpaceX is ahead in this space race, Boeing isn’t far behind with their spacecraft called CST-100 Starliner.
The Boeing Starliner teams primary focus is on a Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission that has been planned to launch no earlier than April 2019. Their Second priority is the Uncrewed Orbital Flight Test mission, which will fly before the CFT mission.
The Starliner’s designed capacity is up to seven crew members; this will hopefully open up space to more people than ever before.
Patrick O’Neill Marketing and Communications Manager for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space added that,
“ The Commercial Crew Program is revolutionary in the sense where it’s going to provide us the opportunity to have more astronauts in space. It’s going to further our ability for knowledge in a microgravity environment.”
Not only is the space missions going to further our knowledge and understanding of the world around us, but space exploration has already changed and improved our way of life. Jim Bridenstine states that,
“Space has transformed the American way of life: the way we navigate, the way we communicate, the way we produce food, the way we produce energy, the way we do disaster relief and national security, the way we predict the weather, the way we understand the climate and certainly even the way we do banking in the United States of America. It all depends on space and all of these were blazed by a trail that was NASA.”