ARLA/CLUSTER: NASA certifica empresas privadas para missões na ISS

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

NASA orders second Boeing crew mission to International Space Station

*NASA* took an important step Friday to establish regular crew missions
that will launch from the United States to the International Space Station
with the order of its second post-certification mission from Boeing Space
Exploration of Houston.

"Once certified by NASA, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew
Dragon each will be capable of two crew launches to the station per year,"
said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. "Placing
orders for those missions now really sets us up for a sustainable future
aboard the International Space Station."


This artist's concept shows Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft,
currently under development for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, docking to
the International Space Station. Credits: NASA

This is the third in a series of four guaranteed orders NASA will make
under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts.
Boeing and SpaceX received their first orders in May
<http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/commercial-crew-milestones-met-partners-on-track-for-missions-in-2017>
and November
<http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-orders-spacex-crew-mission-to-international-space-station>,
respectively, and have started planning for, building and procuring the
necessary hardware and assets to carry out their first missions for the
agency. NASA will identify at a later time which company will fly a mission
to the station first.

Boeing met the criteria for NASA to award the company its second mission
with the successful completion of interim developmental milestones and
internal design reviews for its Starliner spacecraft, United Launch
Alliance Atlas V rocket and associated ground system.

Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility
<http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/grand-opening-of-the-c3pf> at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida is seeing the buildup of the Starliner structural
test article, and nearby, the main column of the crew access tower
<https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2015/12/10/astronauts-celebrate-with-builders-topping-of-crew-access-tower/>
is in place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.
Flight trainers are nearing completion in Boeing’s St. Louis facility and
rocket parts are starting to come together in Huntsville, Alabama.

“As our company begins its second century, our Starliner program continues
Boeing’s tradition of space industry innovation with commercial service to
the space station,� said John Mulholland, vice president and manager of
Boeing’s commercial crew program. “We value NASA’s confidence in the
Starliner system to keep their crews safe.�

Commercial crew missions to the space station will restore America’s human
spaceflight capabilities and increase the amount of time dedicated to
scientific research off the Earth, for the Earth and beyond. A standard
commercial crew mission to the station will carry up to four NASA or
NASA-sponsored crew members and about 220 pounds of pressurized cargo. The
spacecraft will remain at the station for up to 210 days, available as an
emergency lifeboat during that time.

“With the commercial crew vehicles from Boeing and SpaceX, we will soon add
a seventh crew member to International Space Station missions, which
will significantly increase the amount of crew time to conduct research,�
said Kirk Shireman, manager for the International Space Station Program.
“This will enable NASA and our partners to ramp up the important research
being done every day for the benefit of all humanity.�

Orders under the CCtCap contracts are made two to three years prior to
actual mission dates in order to provide time for each company to
manufacture and assemble the launch vehicle and spacecraft. Each company
also must successfully complete a certification process before NASA will
give the final approval for flight. Each provider’s contract includes a
minimum of two and a maximum potential of six missions.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manages the CCtCap contracts and is working
with each company to ensure commercial transportation system designs and
post-certification missions will meet the agency’s safety requirements.
Activities that follow the award of missions include a series of
mission-related reviews and approvals leading to launch. The program also
will be involved in all operational phases of missions to ensure crew
safety.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

To stay up-to-date on commercial crew progress, bookmark the program’s blog
at: http://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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