The space shuttle is retired to museums and America is left without a way to place astronauts in space. Is NASA over? The welcome answer is no! Thanks to the Commercial Crew Program, America has a bright future ahead. The Commercial Crew Program provides a NASA partnership to private industry to produce launch services that could be used by both government and commercial entities.
Last night, Kennedy Space Center engineer Brittani Sims talked to 37 OLC members about her work with the Commercial Crew Program. Students asked questions related to safety, costs, and timelines. Four corporations, Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and SpaceX, have funded agreements with NASA to develop and build a spacecraft capable of taking four astronauts to the International Space Station. Three other corporations, ATK, Excaliber Almaz, and United Launch Alliance, are in an unfunded agreement to develop spacecraft and boosters. That is seven independent groups that will be looking for future engineers, scientists, and astronauts to build and fly spacecraft.
You can hear the entire presentation by navigating to the LiveChat archives and look for the "Commercial Space" LiveChat. Then, don't forget to take the associated quiz to earn your 25 points! And, you can sign up now for next week, when we will hear about NASA's entry in the next vehicle sweepstakes, the Orion spacecraft! See you then!
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