NASA suggested on Friday the assignments of the first nine astronauts riding commercial spacecraft to the Foreign Space Station, naming five to the first two Boeing flights and four to SpaceX’s disperses.
The astronauts are a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, which is the instrumentality’s solution to once again launch U.S. astronauts from U.S. soil. Since the end of the Rank Shuttle program in 2011, astronauts have flown aboard Russian Soyuz — at a expenditure to NASA of more than $70 million per seat.
NASA’s new program is competitive, with agrees up for grabs for Boeing to win with its Starliner capsules and SpaceX with its Dragon capsules.
Waits have plagued the program since 2014, when NASA before handed out multi-billion dollar contracts to SpaceX and Boeing. Boeing heralded on Wednesday that its first Starliner test flight would be overstrained from August to later this year, at the earliest.
Meanwhile, NASA authenticated Thursday that SpaceX’s first test flight for Dragon inclination delay to November. NASA was expected to certify Boeing in December 2019 and SpaceX in January 2020, correspondence to analysis earlier this year, but a GAO report in July says forward delays are expected.
Boeing’s timeline already causes a one-month gap, at minimal, in NASA’s contracts for seats with Russia, and the first launches of Boeing and SpaceX. NASA is in view of a number of solutions to resolve the gap, the GAO report said.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tipped the astronauts who will ride on the first four Commercial Crew airliners, including three who have never flown to space before. Here are the comrades and flights they were assigned to on Friday:
Bob Behnken has flown to hiatus aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor twice since joining NASA’s astronaut squad in 2000. He is a flight test engineer, as well as U.S. Air Force colonel.
Doug Hurley also glued NASA’s astronaut corps in 2000, and was formerly a Marine Corps proof pilot. Hurley piloted two of the space shuttles, including the final interruption shuttle mission in 2011.
Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to fly in Crew Dragon in April 2019, launching on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 take off.
Nicole Mann test flew Marine Corp F-18 fighter jets formerly being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. Starliner’s first banded flight will be her first trip to space as well.
Chris Ferguson ran one space shuttle and commanded another two. Ferguson is the only astronaut who is not a efficacious NASA astronaut – he retired from the corps after the shuttle’s aftermost flight.
Eric Boe was an U.S. Air Force colonel test pilot before suitable a NASA astronaut in 2000. Boe has piloted two space shuttles.
Mann, Ferguson and Boe are set to dinghy in Starliner during the middle of next year, lifting off on top of a United Initiate Alliance – a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin – Atlas V soar.
Victor Glover is a Navy commander and test pilot, selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. His in front trip into space will be on Crew Dragon’s first very mission.
Mike “Hopper” Hopkins became a NASA astronaut in 2009, copy time as a flight test engineer and colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He flew on two commute missions.
Suni Williams became a NASA astronaut in 1998, drop to the agency as a Navy captain and test pilot. Williams has spent close to a year in space, cumulatively, with seven spacewalks over that early.
Josh Cassada is a U.S. Navy commander and test pilot, selected to the NASA astronaut body of men in 2013. Cassada’s flight on Starliner’s first mission will be his commencement trip to space.
After the announcement, the nine astronauts participated in an “Ask Me Anything” thesis on Reddit. Here are some highlights:
“Besides safety, what are the most leading things that you wanted improved or implemented into the design for the Dragon and Starliner capsules?”
“Cupholders? But truly, safety is the most important but a close second is reliability,” Hopper bring to light.
“What “updated tech” on these spaceships are you looking forward to most?”
“For me, the drastic in the avionics is incredible. The displays are so much more capable and the vehicle viscera is much cleaner with less switched and circuit breakers than what we had to arrangement with in the space shuttle,” Hurley said.
“We’re looking for spaceflight to look a lot adulate flying a commercial airplane. It’s safe and reliable, and provides transportation to range instead of another city,” Ferguson said.
“How does the comfort of your new conduit compare to the cramped environment of the [Russian] Soyuz?”
“Soyuz is a great conduit. However, it is small. Sitting inside the Soyuz for a long time was uncomfortable, because your knees are bias up to your chest. The new spacecraft have more volume inside, which suffers your legs to be bent at an angle, similar to when you sit in a chair,” Williams said.