Check out the spacecraft in a 360-degree video.
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Category: space travel
SpaceX is preparing to make its first demo launches for NASA’s commercial crew mission program, which aims to bring back the capability for U.S. spacecraft to fly astronauts to space.
The rocket company plans to use Tesla Model X vehicles to bring the first astronauts flying in the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the launch pad.
It appears to be the latest example of some synergy between Elon Musk’s two main companies.
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The habitat is designed to form one module of NASA’s proposed Deep Space Gateway, a miniature space station that would orbit the moon and serve as a way station for lunar missions or journeys deeper into the cosmos.
Lockheed’s prototype is the refurbished Donatello cargo container that was originally designed to fit inside the space shuttle’s cargo bay and ferry supplies to and from the ISS. Donatello never flew in space, but its two sister modules made several trips aboard the shuttle. One, dubbed Leonardo, is now a permanent “space closet” attached to the space station.
Lockheed is one of six companies awarded a combined $65-million contract from NASA to design a deep-space habitat as part of the agency’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program, which aims to foster commercial developments for space exploration.
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Moon? Mars? A trillion over 25 years? Lunar space station? Lunar resources? It’s gonna be interesting to see where this goes. It’s kind of a mess. But a good mess, a driven mess. A mess that is leading to real space exploration.
Space exploration is the latest partisan divide, as the Trump administration backs a moon mission and others, including Elon Musk, push for a trip to Mars. Here’s why it all matters.
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HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine speak about plans to return astronauts to the Moon and the prospects for a mission to Mars
Posted in space travel | Leave a Comment on HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine speak about plans to return astronauts to the Moon and the prospects for a mission to Mars
SpaceX is another step closer to crewed flight.
On Monday (Aug. 20), the private spaceflight company installed an astronaut walkway at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the jumping-off point for SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spaceship.
The walkway is like the jetways that connect airport lounges and airliners. Astronauts will use the walkway to get from Pad 39A’s tower to Crew Dragon, which will sit atop SpaceX’s 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 rocket. [Photos: Behind-the-Scenes Look at SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Spaceship].
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