SUNITA WILLIAMS TO FLY FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACECRAFT
Indian-origin US astronaut Sunita Williams is among the nine astronauts named by NASA who will fly the first missions into space on commercially provided rockets and capsules, starting next year.
After years of vehicle development and building anticipation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has now put the crew in commercial crew spacecraft.
The space agency announced on Saturday that the nine astronauts will launch on the first crewed test flights and missions of new commercial spacecraft built and operated by The Boeing Company and SpaceX.
“Future Commercial Crew astronauts will be riding to space on partner vehicles built by SpaceX & BoeingSpace,” NASA said in a tweet.
“We are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine during the ‘Launch America’ announcement.
The eight active NASA astronauts and one former astronaut-turned-corporate crew member will launch on Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragon capsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2019.
The missions will mark the first crewed launches from US soil since the end of the space shuttle programme in 2011.
“Today, our country’s dreams of greater achievements in space are within our grasp. This accomplished group of American astronauts, flying on new spacecraft developed by our commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, will launch a new era of human spaceflight,” Bridenstine said.
He said the announcement advances “our great American vision” and strengthens America’s leadership in space.
NASA has worked closely with the companies throughout design, development and testing to ensure the systems meet its safety and performance requirements.
“The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the forefront of this exciting new time for human spaceflight,” said Mark Geyer, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“It will be thrilling to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can’t wait to see them aboard the International Space Station,” Geyer said.
In addition to naming the crews of the test flights, NASA also announced the four astronauts who will fly aboard the first operational Starliner and Dragon missions to the space station. Both vehicles were developed in cooperation with NASA to deliver crew members to and from the orbiting laboratory.
Josh Cassada, 45, will fly with Sunita (“Suni”) Williams, 52, aboard NASA's first contracted Starliner mission. It will be Cassada’s first spaceflight. Williams previously logged 321 days in orbit on two stays aboard the space station, most recently returning to the Earth in 2012.
The commercial crew members took to the stage during an event led by Bridenstine at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, 48, and Douglas Hurley, 51, will fly together as SpaceX's first Dragon crew.