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Crewed launch deepens ties between NASA and SpaceX | Science
On 27 May, NASA will launch people into space from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011, when the space shuttle Atlantis roared aloft on its final voyage. This time, astronauts will be riding to the International Space Station (ISS) not on a NASA rocket, but aboard vehicles bought from the private space company SpaceX: the Dragon 2 capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The occasion marks yet another milestone for the private California company, which over the past decade has gone from underdog to dominator. SpaceX now handles about two-thirds of NASA's launches, including many research payloads, with flights as cheap as $62 million, roughly half the price of a rocket from United Launch Alliance, a competitor. SpaceX's goals are not limited to low-Earth orbit: Last month it won a contract to build a Moon lander, and it is steadily testing a huge heavy-lift rocket, called Starship, that could carry people to Mars.
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We have been spending many millions of $$$ to Russia to have them launch our astronauts & payloads into Earth orbit & the ISS. Now we have a real private effort to take over that work & likely save us all a lot of money.
On 27 May, NASA will launch people into space from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011, when the space shuttle Atlantis roared aloft on its final voyage. This time, astronauts will be riding to the International Space Station (ISS) not on a NASA rocket, but aboard vehicles bought from the private space company SpaceX: the Dragon 2 capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The occasion marks yet another milestone for the private California company, which over the past decade has gone from underdog to dominator. SpaceX now handles about two-thirds of NASA's launches, including many research payloads, with flights as cheap as $62 million, roughly half the price of a rocket from United Launch Alliance, a competitor. SpaceX's goals are not limited to low-Earth orbit: Last month it won a contract to build a Moon lander, and it is steadily testing a huge heavy-lift rocket, called Starship, that could carry people to Mars.
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We have been spending many millions of $$$ to Russia to have them launch our astronauts & payloads into Earth orbit & the ISS. Now we have a real private effort to take over that work & likely save us all a lot of money.
