ISPCS 2016 Commercial Crew: Path to Flights

Commercial Crew: Path to Flights Benjamin Reed, Director of Commercial Crew Mission Management, SpaceX Steve Stich, Deputy Manager of NASA Commercial Crew Program at NASA Johnson Space Center John Mulholland, Vice President and Program Manager for Commercial Programs, Space Exploration, The Boeing Company Two American companies are blazing their own unique paths forward to produce certified end-to-end crew transportation systems capable of flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. A little more than two years after being awarded contracts, launch pads along Florida’s Space Coast have taken shape, spacecraft and launch vehicle hardware are built and extensive qualification testing is under way for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon systems. The companies are working carefully and diligently with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the astronauts selected to train to fly flight tests to the International Space Station to ensure the systems are meeting the agency’s certification requirements and adequately addressing all credible hazards, including pad emergencies, in-flight aborts and emergency landings. Top Three Takeaways: 1. The capability to deliver crews safely to and from the International Space Station is within reach. Hardware is being built, qualified and prepared for flight. 2. Safety is prioritized in NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts. The designs must meet NASA’s safety and performance requirements, which were developed based on the agency’s 50-plus years of spaceflight experience. 3. Once certified, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will be the primary means of transportation for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, which is a fully functioning laboratory for scientific research, technology development, exploration, commerce and education. Music and ambience sounds: "Ambienta Soundtrack Crystal Airlines" & "Sparkles" used under the Creative Commons Licence Attribution 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... "Space Ambient" used under the Creative Commons Licence Sampling Plus 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...