NASA names nine ‘American hero’ astronauts for SpaceX, Boeing missions
After a long hiatus (thanks for nothing, Barry) the US will be back in the space game, with US crews launching from US territory, on US made spacecraft. Nine Astronauts have been identified to crew the upcoming missions for flight testing (near and dear to my heart) with missions in mind to the International Space Station and beyond.
Fox News reports that NASA has announced the nine astronauts that will crew the test flights, and first missions of the SpaceX ‘Crew Dragon’ and Boeing CST-100 ‘Starliner’ spacecraft.
Crew for the Starliner test flight are NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Aunapu-Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have been selected to take part in the Crew Dragon test flight.
The first Boeing mission to the International Space Station will be crewed by NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Suni Williams. The initial SpaceX mission to the ISS will be crewed by NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins.
“This is the stuff of dreams,” said Glover, during an event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Friday.
“Having an opportunity to introduce you to these American heroes is unique,” said NASA Adminstrator Jim Bridenstine.
“This is just the beginning of daring missions that this country is embarking upon,” said Mark Geyer, director of Johnson Space Center, during the event. “It’s an exciting time for human spaceflight and an exciting time for our nation.”
The space agency has partnered with Boeing and SpaceX to develop the Starliner spacecraft to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and the Crew Dragon launching atop the Falcon 9 rocket, respectively.
In a statement released Thursday, NASA and its Commercial Crew partners revealed more details of the effort to carry astronauts from the U.S. to the International Space Station. Since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, the U.S. has been relying on Russian Soyuz rockets, launched from Kazakhstan, to get astronauts to the ISS.
Boeing plans to do an uncrewed flight test of its CST-100 Starliner later this year or early next year. John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s Commercial Crew effort, explained that the earliest the company can “confidently” do a manned flight test will be in mid-2019. “Our commitment has always been to provide NASA and those crews the highest level of mission assurance,” he said in the statement.
“SpaceX is targeting November 2018 for Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission and April 2019 for Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission, which will carry two NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station,” said Benji Reed, director of Crew Mission Management at SpaceX, in the statement.
The first test flight for SpaceX and Boeing will be known as Demo-1 and Orbital Flight Test, respectively. “Each test flight will provide data on the performance of the rockets, spacecraft, ground systems, and operations to ensure the systems are safe to fly astronauts,” explained NASA in the statement.
Crew for each flight will include at least a flight commander and a pilot.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will be launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft will launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Most of us here I would think remember the Apollo missions to the moon, and certainly the Space Shuttle program cancelled by the SCoaMF. I remember watching the landing of one of the first shuttle missions from the Lava Lounge onboard NAS Sigonella- to a standing ovation and wild cheers from all present. Finally the US is back, and headed soon enough to Mars. Amazing times.
Category: Blue Skies
‘Bout damn time!!!
Amazing indeed. I am old enough to remember all the Mercury and Gemini missions as well. My mom used to let me stay home from school on launch day.
I’d park my butt on the floor in front of that big B&W console TV until all was said and done.
Great memories, and a Bronx Cheer to all the leftists who gutted the space program so as to use the money for buying votes through welfare.
No different from the resident who tried to use NASA funding to support muslim “outreach” programs.
High five, Tim, my brother of Bob Burnell’s, “Gentlemen, This Is Jezeble!” classes in VP-30.
I came to VP-30 from helos, a salty AW3, and the powers that be decided I should be, after four years of operating radar and MAD, an acoustic sensor operator. I was horrified.
First test I aced the written, but tanked the grams. The aggregate score kept me in the class, and I finally made the connection from theory to grams. The rest is history.
Arcane Sea Story over.
Ditto and “Like” to Ex-PH2
I too watched as many as I possibly could of all those missions.
For a very interesting and well done documentary on the Apollo Moon Missions, look up Moon Machines. Available n YouTube, I bought the entire DVD set in a Steelbook because it was so well done.
When I took my daughter to the NASA HQ in Houston at the Space Center, I told her that all of those machines were built without computers and done with slide rulers….
She was quite appropriately amazed.
It’s a great series and I’ve watched it at least a dozen times.
Nothing wrong with slide rules, you just have to keep track of your decimal places. And remember, the original trajectories for the big 16 inch battleship guns were computed on abacuses.
Thank you, AWEd1, for sharing this.
Let us not forget all the first Astronauts, to include USN Rear Admiral Alan Shepard, who on 5 May 1961, was the first American to go to space:
https://youtu.be/VW4M3SlSIkU
Almost 10 year later, on 6 February 1971, he became the first and only person to play golf on the moon:
https://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/feb-6-1971-alan-shepard-plays-golf-moon
And our first American Female Astronaut, Sally Ride, who in 1983, was on the CHALLENGER:
https://www.space.com/16756-sally-ride-biography.html
Rest in Peace, RAM Shepard and Sally Ride.
I knew Willy McCool, who perished on the doomed Space Shuttle Columbia. Great guy and a legend in the A-6 community. Our son’s were on the same soccer team here at Pax River, and we traded coaching duties.
There’s a memorial grove of trees to the Columbia on base that I pass by just about every day.
AWEd1:
Your heart probably sunk when you heard the news. So sad.
I remembered when that incident happened. It was right before we went into Iraq. Even though we were already forward deployed and preparing for the invasion, the troops and I were still taken aback by the Columbia disater.
A sobering moment for us.
It reminded us that no matter where we are, what Service we are in or what job we had in the Military, that no one is guaranteed a next/another day in life.
Rest In Peace to the Columbia Crew.
AW1 Ed, this is kinda long, but I thought you’d appreciate it. This first appeared as an editorial I wrote for “The Times Record” Brunswick, Maine, shortly after Columbia was lost. ———————————————————————– The milestones of human evolution, the progress of civilization and the ascent of modern technology have normally been measured by the benefits accrued to humanity and to our world. That is as it should be, and is a valid means to view the past. But often overlooked by us is the cost in human terms of each step, small or great, that accompanies the road to the future. I was raised among the mountains of northern Utah, surrounded by both forest and desert, and taught the stories of the pioneers who settled the land. Often, my father would take me on trips to show me the remains of the Oregon trail, of South Pass, Promontory Point, Donner Pass and many other famous landmarks of our westward expansion. All the thrilling tales of those hardy pioneers were tempered, though, by the realization that every mile was marked by the grave of someone who fell by the way. Those waving seas of Prairie grass were watered not only with the sweat of determined settlers, but by their tears as well. Lonely little mounds, some with rude-carved head plaques, but most not, marked some family’s loss. Husbands, wives and children died along the way to the promised land out west, and yet those same families persevered. They laid their loved ones to rest, said their last farewells and turned their faces westwards, determined to follow the trail to its end. Those families kept faith with their fellow pioneers, and with their God, and kept going because they saw the inherent worth in their task. They believed in the value of their sacrifice and in the ultimate worth of their labors. Because of their determination, we inherited a great nation that stretches from one vast sea to another. They broke a path to the future that benefits us all today. Their tragedies were not forgotten, but were also not allowed to dissuade… Read more »
Well said, Tim. Thank you.
Apollo 1 crew, the first to die in NASA equipment, I believe.
Ed White:
Gus Grissom:
Roger Chaffee:
Led to a complete redesign of the faulty equipment and escape hatch on the Apollo Command Module…
Ad Astra, Per Aspera.
January 27, 1967.
God Bless all of those lost in the Space Race on all sides of the equation.
https://www.space.com/17338-apollo-1.html
I remember the Apollo missions well, watching Neil Armstrong take that historic first step. And all the missions that followed, including the disastrous Apollo 13 and the heroics that brought that crew home. Then came the space shuttle program and its eventual demise with nothing to replace it that put us at the mercy of Russian hardware. What an embarrassment that was. It’s good to see the US get back in the game. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to see one of our astronauts step onto the surface of Mars.
You COULD get me to go into space but only if I first expired here on Earth. No thank you very much. I admire the astronauts greatly. I admire submariners, too. I would not want to do what they do. No thank you. Very Much.
We need to focus on space exploration and get back in the game.
Remember the scene from the opening of The Empire Strikes Back with DOZENS if not more probes heading out in all directions?
Thats what I want to see…it would take decades to pay dividends but it might be worth it.
With our current tech, these probes could last 100+ years.
Finally! Americans back in the game. Ridiculous that we’ve been beholden to the Russians for trips to and fro and that we use Russian rocket motors on our launch platforms. Want to talk about collusion? How much money have we directly given the Russians cause we cancelled all our human spacecraft programs?
Too young for Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo, but as a kid I voraciously read every book on the programs I could find. The cunning, ingenuity, and brilliance of the men and women that made it from the Earth to the moon in little over a decade is an amazing story.
By chance I arrived in Cocoa Beach on the day of a scheduled night launch of the shuttle. So I got to sit on the beautiful Cocoa Beach and watch a freaking night launch! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Literally as bright as the sun, coming over the horizon, for about 5 seconds before it gets enough altitude.
I never imagined I’d ever see a launch let alone a night launch. Made the rest of the week (a cruise on which I was sick the whole time) worth the trip.
Think about it…
The Russians are the big villians by supporting Trump…
At the same time they ferry our astronauts into space…
You just can’t make this shit up…
I’m sorry, but the Russians aren’t considered villains simply because they support Trump. I’m all for reparations and improved relations. The aims and methods of a regime can absolutely evolve for the better over time; specifically when there are major changes in leadership and the like. With that said, it’s legitimately frightening to see the one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn many have made regarding Russia and Putin since the beginning of President Trump’s subtle (and not so subtle) endorsements of the same. I regularly see people who would have scoffed at the very mention of Putin a short time ago suddenly celebrating the man’s leadership qualities and methods today. I see men and women who consider themselves to be full-blooded American patriots speaking of Russian rule as if it’s desirable; as if its government’s often violent attacks on non-violent groups attempting to practice freedom of speech is something to be envied and replicated here at home. If asked directly about the matter, our Republicans in office today will almost unanimously agree that Putin and Russia should still never be trusted, to any degree, and that it is folly to believe that their government wants anything more than to subdue and control the United States as much as possible. That matters there are brutal and unenviable; that Putin’s regime has been and continues to be guilty of horrible acts, against both other members of the international community, and its own people. What worries me is that a large percentage of our country today apparently believes that in order to support President Trump and the United States, one must agree with virtually everything he says and does. That to question him is tantamount to being unAmerican. There should be no shame in speaking up to say, “I support President Trump and my country, yet I will not embrace and celebrate Vladimir Putin and Russia, as so many of my brothers and sisters have chosen to do as a result of the President’s repeated endorsements.” There should be no shame or fear in disagreeing with a man one otherwise follows and supports. Having the freedom,… Read more »
The term “Hero” is misused. You don’t become a hero by serving, signing up, being a Cop, an EMT or Fireman. Those folks can become heroes, but it’s not automatic.
I heard something similar once… “If all these NBA players are ‘super stars, how do we define Michael Jordan”?
Most here served, yet few would claim the title “hero’, even if it applied.
Glad to see we’re back in business. Good things will come from this. From technology here to advancements in aircraft and spacecraft design.
This is what happens when adults are in charge.
Good luck to each crew member and Godspeed to them.
Anyone who strapped their ass into a military aircraft* would sell the farm for a seat in this bitch.
Discovery Night Launch
*We’re just not right, some would say. In Naval/Marine flight, you could be drowned, crushed or burned to death; sometime all three at once. Yet we still sign that page 13, volunteering for “Duty Involving Flight” over and over again.
Question- How come you never can find an Astronaut at Cape Kennedy.
Ans. They are always out to “Launch” in the cafeteria.
Jeff:
Always, always, always enjoy your witty puns. They are hilarious!
To answer your “punny” question: The last time an Astronaut was at Cape Kennedy was 1973.
Stand by, Mars, here we come!!
Ah, to be Delos D. Harriman on his last flight…
US was paying the equivalent of 34 million dollars per US astronaut ride along with the Russians. Now, I applaud the international assistance in space, but we never charged a ride alone by fee. The US was the leader in space ‘till the manned space program was scrapped to pay for Obama entitlements.
Now that we are re-emerging as the leader, we must build a permanently US manned station on the moon and set out sights on Mars.
Next year July is the 50th anniversary of Appollo 11 mission, we need a solid foothold by then.
MCPO OUT!
Nowhere near a fan of Obama, but he did engage both SpaceX and Boeing with contracts for space missions.
So……….
About goddamn time. We put men on the moon 4 1/2 decades ago, and thanks to the ex-Glorious Leader we have to ask the Russians nicely to give our Astronauts a ride to and from orbit (remind me again who was actually colluding? ).
This is some anti trans white supremacy body shaming patriarchy!
Where are the fat positive trans women with pink hair that resist trump?!!
I’m outraged. This injustice will not stand.