Category Archives: Space Station

Four Years of Progress
NASA and its aerospace industry partners have worked together for more than four years to develop subsystems,spacecraft, and launch vehicles that will lead to safe and reliable transportation...

By: NASAKennedy

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Four Years of Progress - Video

Inside Boeing #39;s Astronaut Taxi to the Space Station
May 7 (Bloomberg) - Boeing is known for making airplanes, but they actually have a long history in space. They #39;ve been a contractor for NASA on every manned space mission ever flown. A...

By: Bloomberg News

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Inside Boeing's Astronaut Taxi to the Space Station - Video

Space Station Live: Fruit Flies in Space
NASA Public Affairs Officer Lori Meggs interviews Sharmila Bhattacharya, principal investigator for the Ames Student Fruit Fly Experiment, and Amy Gresser, Deputy Project Scientist. SpaceX-4...

By: ReelNASA

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Space Station Live: Fruit Flies in Space - Video

Boeing, SpaceX to send astronauts to space station
NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX on Tuesday to build America #39;s next spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2017, opening t...

By: AFP news agency

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Boeing, SpaceX to send astronauts to space station - Video

NASAs $6.8 billion deal with SpaceX and Boeing buys the US space agency a lot more than a few taxi rides to the International Space Station. From new independence from the Russian space program to the drive of competitive innovation, the private contracts promise to open new doors for US space exploration.

NASA administrator Charlie Bolden announced Tuesday that the space agency will contract with two private agencies to transport US astronaut crews to the International Space Station. The contract with the Houston-based Boeing Company is valued at $4.2 billion. California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp., more commonly known as SpaceX, has been awarded a $2.6 billion contract. Under the contracts, each company will pilot between 2 and 6 ferrying missions.

NASA deactivated its own space shuttle in 2011 and has since relied on Russian vessels to transport US astronauts to the space station. Given mounting tensions between the two nations, Congress has been keen to minimize such reliance on the Russians.

The removal of NASA astronauts from the drivers' seats drew some criticism from some astrophysicists who expressed concerns that the move was the first step in a more systematic defunding of the US space program.

However, noted astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. sees the shift as a worthy reallocation of limited resources.

It makes sense to me that NASAs role should be at the frontier. Trucking astronauts and their food and supplies and so on is no longer the frontier, Dr. McDowell tells the Monitor. NASA astronauts shouldnt be truck drivers. Thats not what theyre for. Theyre for being the first people on Mars, or on an asteroid.

Outsourcing NASAs short-range transportation needs to private industry could also lead to innovations that ultimately reduce shuttle costs, McDowell says. Already, SpaceX has hinted that it will charge just a fraction of the $71 million per seat ticket price offered by the Russians.

NASA operates firmly under the thumbs of Congress and other federal regulatory bodies and can be bogged down by the same managerial redundancies and cumulative regulations that plague other government agencies.

Within the government, the drive to prevent anyone from doing anything wrong also stops people from having the flexibility to do what they need to do to get things right, McDowell says.

SpaceX and Boeing will certainly be subject to government regulations regarding safety and control of space debris. However as private companies, they enjoy more latitude in how they explore and implement technologies than NASA has, he explains.

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What will NASAs $6.8 billion space taxi contracts really buy?

Teofilo Stevenson Alex Garcia USA - 1986 05 18 Boxing (Sport)
Sport History Teofilo Stevenson Alex Garcia USA - 1986 05 18 (World Championships Finals) Sport History Teofilo Stevenson Alex Garcia USA - 1986 05 18 (World Championships Finals) Sport...

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Teofilo Stevenson Alex Garcia USA - 1986 05 18 Boxing (Sport) - Video

Expedition 41 Crew Profile, Version 1
Meet the three Expedition 41 crew members who will launch to the International Space Station in September. NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev and Roscosmos...

By: ReelNASA

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Expedition 41 Crew Profile, Version 1 - Video

"BLAST OFF TO MARS" Cloud 9 - S2 Ep. 73
We #39;re off to visit Mars!! We #39;ve also created our Space Station!! All Cloud 9 Season 2 Episodes http://bit.ly/Cloud9S2 Mods/Texture Pack in this Season http://bit.ly/Cloud9S2ModL "BLAST...

By: iHasCupquake

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"BLAST OFF TO MARS" Cloud 9 - S2 Ep. 73 - Video

Space Station Live: Rodent Research Project
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center public affairs officer Lori Meggs interviews Cecilia Wigley, NASA #39;s Ames Research Center payload integration and operations lead for the Rodent Research...

By: ReelNASA

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Space Station Live: Rodent Research Project - Video

SpaceX Dragon version 2 to Transport U.S. Astronauts to the International Space Station
The Dragon version 2 spacecraft in development by SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, will advance beyond the design phase and be put into manufacturing for flight tests and eventual operational...

By: NASAKennedy

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SpaceX Dragon version 2 to Transport U.S. Astronauts to the International Space Station - Video