75-523: SpaceX Crew-9 is the ninth operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight and the 15th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Originally scheduled to launch a crew of four to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-August 2024, the mission was delayed by more than a month due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner Calypso spacecraft that was docked at
150-738: A Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where she majored in biology , minored in chemistry and marine sciences , and wrote an honors thesis in creative writing. Cardman's research took her to remote field sites from the Arctic to Antarctic and included multiple offshore expeditions on board research ships. While at the University of North Carolina, Cardman studied biogeochemistry in hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal vents. During that time, she also worked with
225-405: A Space Force launch complex. Crew-9 relocated from Harmony forward to Harmony zenith on 3 November 2024, with all four of its crew aboard. This allowed CRS-31 to dock later dock to Harmony forward, from which it will be able to perform a test to reboost ISS. Relocations carry the full crew because the spacecraft is also the crew's "lifeboat". The mission is scheduled to end with a splashdown in
300-482: A capsule can be reused up to fifteen times. Crew Dragon spacecraft can spend up to a week in free flight without being docked to the ISS. Each Crew Dragon capsule is equipped with a launch escape system consisting of eight of SpaceX's SuperDraco engines, which provide 71,000 newtons (16,000 pounds-force) of thrust each. These engines were originally intended to also perform a propulsive landing upon return to Earth, with
375-477: A contingency if Starliner is further delayed and to ensure service to the ISS until 2030. SpaceX's Crew-1 mission, the first operational flight in the program, carried Victor Glover , Mike Hopkins , Soichi Noguchi , and Shannon Walker to the ISS in November 2020 aboard Resilience . Resilience was originally planned to be used for Crew-2 , but was reassigned following a scheduling change resulting from
450-552: A panel of agency officials, announced that the Boeing Starliner would return uncrewed, with its astronauts returning on Crew-9. Later, on 30 August, NASA announced that Hague and Gorbunov will fly on Crew-9 with Hague serving as commander. Gorbunov was required to fly as part of a NASA-Roscosmos crew interchange agreement. Prior to the official announcement, Ars Technica reported that there was disagreement within NASA over who should fill
525-577: A part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system, that is, keeping at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions. That would ensure both countries would have a presence on the station, and ability to maintain their separate systems, if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period. On 3 December 2021, NASA made clear it would secure up to an additional three flights from SpaceX to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for human access to
600-731: A splashdown, a Starliner capsule will return on land with airbags at one of four designated sites in the western United States. Development of the Commercial Crew Program began in 2011 as NASA shifted from internal development of crewed vehicles to perform ISS crew rotation to commercial industry development of transport to the ISS. A series of open competitions over the following two years saw successful bids from Boeing, Blue Origin , Sierra Nevada , and SpaceX to develop proposals for ISS crew transport vehicles. In 2014, NASA awarded separate fixed-price contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to develop their respective systems and to fly astronauts to
675-447: A test pilot. Hague, on the other hand, has prior spaceflight experience and is one of the few individuals who have survived a launch abort with Soyuz MS-10 . Following the crew changes, SpaceX, NASA, Cardman, Hague, Wilson, and Gorbunov collaborated for three weeks to identify how Hague could assume many of the tasks typically divided between the commander and pilot, and determine which tasks could be assigned to Gorbunov, who would sit in
750-522: Is a variant of the company's Dragon 2 class of spacecraft, which is an upgraded version of the first-generation Dragon. It measures 3.7 meters (12 feet) wide, 4.4 meters (14 feet) tall without its trunk, and 7.2 meters (24 feet) with its trunk. While trunks are discarded prior to capsule reentry, crew cabins are designed to be reusable. After earlier plans of SpaceX to use new capsules for every crewed flight for NASA both agreed to reuse Crew Dragon capsules for NASA flights. In 2022, SpaceX stated that
825-504: Is also equipped to perform a splashdown return. Boeing's CCtCap contract values each seat on a CST-100 flight to be between US$ 91–99 million, while the face value of each seat has been estimated by NASA's OIG to be around US$ 90 million. NASA missions to the ISS launch on an average every six months. As part of the original contracts Boeing and SpaceX each were initially contracted for up to six operational flights. NASA later contracted with SpaceX for up to an additional eight flights as
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#1732854774645900-518: Is also the only pad that can support Falcon Heavy launches. When Crew-9's launch was rescheduled to 24 September, it was brought close to the launch NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which needed to launch from LC-39A on a Falcon Heavy during a 21-day window in early October. To avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure ample preparation time for both missions, SpaceX shifted the Crew-9 launch to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . This
975-588: Is the ninth operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight to the International Space Station (ISS) and the 15th crewed orbital mission for a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The flight was originally planned to deliver four crew members to the ISS for Expedition 72 , a six-month science mission: NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (commander), Nick Hague (pilot), and Stephanie Wilson (mission specialist), along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov (mission specialist). However, NASA decided to return
1050-706: The Aldridge Commission – established by President George W. Bush following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster – called for crewed flights to the Moon with a Crew Exploration Vehicle in its final report. Following the NASA Authorization Act of 2005 , the Constellation program was established, which envisioned a revised Crew Exploration Vehicle named Orion conducting crew rotation flights to
1125-609: The Boeing Pad Abort Test in November 2019. NASA accepted the test as successful even though one of three parachutes failed to deploy, since the system landed as designed under two parachutes. Boeing conducted the Orbital Flight Test in December 2019 and encountered major malfunctions of Starliner's software which precluded an intended docking with the ISS and prompted a truncation of the mission. The Orbital Flight Test
1200-460: The CST-100 Starliner . SpaceX had previously been contracted by NASA to operate ISS resupply flights with their Dragon spacecraft, as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services . The program's third round, Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap), aimed to financially support the development of winning proposals over 21 months through to May 2014, in preparation for crewed missions to
1275-551: The International Docking System Standard (IDSS). The NASA Docking System implementation is used by Starliner and ISS, while Crew Dragon uses a compatible IDSS implementation developed by SpaceX. The IDSS docks are used instead of the Common Berthing Mechanism used by previous Commercial Orbital Transportation Services spacecraft such as the first-generation Dragon . SpaceX's Crew Dragon
1350-616: The International Space Station (ISS) in addition to its lunar exploration goals. Orion superseded the Orbital Space Plane , which was specifically designed for ISS crew rotation. In 2009, the Augustine Commission appointed by President Barack Obama found that the program's funding and resources were insufficient to execute its goals without significant delays to its schedule and an increase of US$ 3 billion in funding, which prompted NASA to start considering alternatives to
1425-551: The International Space Station (ISS). Cardman was assigned to be the commander and Hague the pilot, while Wilson and Gorbunov would serve as mission specialists. However, due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner , NASA decided to return the Starliner uncrewed and launch Crew-9 with two open seats to return the Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts to Earth. On 24 August, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson , along with
1500-670: The Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research Network in Antarctica . She completed a Master of Science degree with the research group of Dr. Andreas Teske. During her early career, Cardman supported NASA research in British Columbia, Idaho, and Hawaii, developing operational architectures for planetary EVA . She has sailed as an assistant engineer with the Sea Education Association, working in
1575-518: The expeditions of the International Space Station program . American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020, using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational no earlier than 2025. NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX, ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030. The spacecraft are owned and operated by
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#17328547746451650-454: The spacecraft cemetery ), where any debris that survives reentry will be unlikely to cause damage. Hague and Gorbunov arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, 21 September, to prepare for their mission. The crew was scheduled to quarantine at the Operations and Checkout Building , where they conducted a dry dress rehearsal, adjusted their sleep schedules, and rehearsed flight procedures. At
1725-530: The Crew-8 mission. Problems with the Starliner caused NASA to extend its mission and ultimately to bring the spacecraft back to Earth without crew. The Crew-8 mission was extended and its Dragon was fitted with two additional makeshift crew seats to allow it to serve as a "lifeboat" for the CFT crew if evacuation had been needed before Crew-9 arrived. Crew-9 was modified to launch with only two crew and two empty seats. Its launch
1800-464: The Dragon to an altitude of 200 kilometers (120 mi; 110 nmi) before separation. A few hours later, when the second stage was commanded to make a destructive reentry, it experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn, deviating from its planned trajectory. Although it landed safely in the ocean, the impact point was outside the designated target area. SpaceX typically commands its second stages to re-enter
1875-409: The ISS as planned until 2 May 2021. SpaceX Crew-2 launched on 23 April 2021 and it landed on 9 November 2021, two days before the launch of SpaceX Crew-3 . When Boeing OFT-2 was on the pad preparing for launch on 3 August 2021, problems were encountered with 13 valves in the capsule's propulsion system. The launch was scrubbed, and the capsule eventually returned to the factory. Analysis of the problem
1950-475: The ISS for the Boeing Crew Flight Test . NASA ultimately decided to send the Starliner back to Earth uncrewed, launch Crew-9 with two crew members, and return with four crew members, including the two crew members of the Boeing Crew Flight Test. After that delay and other delays largely due to weather, Crew-9 launched on 28 September at 17:17:21 UTC (1:17:21 pm EDT , local time at
2025-705: The ISS within five years. Despite winning awards in CCDev 1 and CCDev 2, Blue Origin decided against competing in CCiCap, opting instead to rely on private investment from their owner, Jeff Bezos , to continue development on crewed spaceflight. The competition for CCiCap funding ended in August 2012, with US$ 212.5 million allocated to Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser, US$ 440 million allocated to SpaceX's Crew Dragon, and US$ 460 million allocated to Boeing's Starliner. While Alliant Techsystems 's integrated Liberty launch vehicle and spacecraft
2100-488: The ISS, and Crew-4 launched Kjell Lindgren , Bob Hines , Samantha Cristoforetti and Jessica Watkins in April 2022. US astronauts Josh Cassada , Nicole Aunapu Mann and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata initially assigned to Starliner crewed flights were reassigned to Crew-5 mission after delays in the Starliner program. The fourth astronaut on Crew-5 is filled by a Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina and thus becoming to be
2175-545: The ISS. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 allocated US$ 1.3 billion for an expansion of the existing Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program over three years. While the program's first round of competition in 2010 focused on funding development of various human spaceflight technologies in the private sector as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , its second round, CCDev 2, focused on proposals for spacecraft capable of shuttling astronauts to and from
2250-563: The ISS. The competition for CCDev 2 funding concluded in April 2011, with Blue Origin receiving US$ 22 million to develop its biconic nose cone capsule concept, SpaceX receiving US$ 75 million to develop a crewed version of their Dragon spacecraft and a human-rated Falcon 9 launch vehicle, the Sierra Nevada Corporation receiving US$ 80 million to develop the Dream Chaser , and Boeing receiving US$ 92.3 million to develop
2325-543: The ISS. Each contract required four successful demonstrations to achieve human rating for the system: pad abort, uncrewed orbital test, launch abort, and crewed orbital test. Operational missions were initially planned to begin in 2017, with missions alternating between the two providers. Delays required NASA to purchase additional seats on Soyuz spacecraft up to Soyuz MS-17 until Crew Dragon missions commenced in 2020. Crew Dragon continues to handle all missions until Starliner becomes operational no earlier than 2025. In 2004,
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2400-676: The Pacific Ocean in March 2025, a first for a Crew Dragon mission. While SpaceX Dragon 1 missions had previously landed in the Pacific, SpaceX and NASA had shifted recovery operations to the East Coast in 2019. The move allowed astronauts and critical cargo to return to Kennedy Space Center more quickly after splashdown, and SpaceX opened a facility in Florida to take in capsules after flight and prepare them for
2475-605: The Space Shuttle program in which the US Orbital Segment of the ISS was completely staffed with four crew. Crew-2 launched in April 2021, using a previously-flown Falcon 9 first-stage booster and a refurbished Crew Dragon for the first time. The mission carried Shane Kimbrough , Megan McArthur , Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet aboard Endeavour . Crew-3 launched in November 2021, carrying Thomas Marshburn , Raja Chari , Matthias Maurer and Kayla Barron to
2550-538: The Starliner-2 flight. The CCP spacecraft missions usually overlap with brief intervals during which two are docked at the same time. Crew-2 did not overlap with Crew-3 because of an unexpected delay of the Crew-3 launch. Sources Citations Notes Zena Cardman Zena Maria Cardman (born October 26, 1987) is an American geobiologist and NASA astronaut. Cardman was born on October 26, 1987. She received
2625-413: The accidental destruction of C204 during testing. While NASA astronauts were given assignments to either Crew Dragon or Starliner flights, Noguchi – a JAXA astronaut – was open for assignment to whichever spacecraft would launch the first operational mission. With Chris Cassidy having arrived at the ISS during Soyuz MS-16 , the arrival of the astronauts aboard Resilience marked the first time since
2700-453: The astronauts chosen to pilot the Crew Dragon and Starliner vehicles in August 2018, and two months later penned the launch of demonstration missions for the Crew Dragon and Starliner for dates in 2019. The uncrewed SpaceX Demo-1 mission was launched on 2 March 2019, in which a Crew Dragon successfully docked with the ISS and returned to Earth six days after launch. The capsule used in
2775-525: The atmosphere and land in the ocean to minimize orbital debris. The off-target landing increased the potential risk of harm, as aircraft and mariners were not instructed to avoid the area. In response, SpaceX announced a temporary grounding of the Falcon 9 rocket while investigating the root cause of the mishap. On 30 September the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the Falcon 9. An exception
2850-412: The commander's seat in those six days. According to the reporting, NASA Chief Astronaut , Joe Acaba had initially selected Cardman to continue as commander, which had been met with some concerns in the astronaut office, stemming from NASA's history of never launching a mission without a test pilot or experienced astronaut in command. Both Cardman and Gorbunov are rookie astronauts who have never served as
2925-528: The crew boarded the rocket, NASA leaders later remarked that they had "threaded a needle" regarding the weather. After lifting the Dragon and second-stage to an altitude of 70 kilometers (43 mi; 38 nmi) the rocket's first stage, Booster 1085 returned to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and touched down at Landing Zone 1 , seven minutes and 36 seconds after launch, completing its second flight. The second stage continued to lift
3000-691: The engine room of a brigantine. At the time of her selection in June 2017, Cardman was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate in Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University , studying geobiology and novel redox couples in Earth's subsurface. Prior to her astronaut candidacy, Cardman worked in science and operations for the NASA Pavilion Lake Research Project (2008–2015) and BASALT (2016–2017). In June 2017, she
3075-617: The event that operational missions in the program are further delayed, with the purchase of additional Soyuz seats beyond MS-17 being described as a possibility. The SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test was successfully conducted in January 2020, setting the stage for the final, crewed test flight of Crew Dragon – SpaceX Demo-2 – which launched astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS in May 2020. SpaceX launched its first operational flight, SpaceX Crew-1 , on 16 November 2020. It stayed docked to
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3150-531: The final phase of the CCDev program, where NASA would certify an operator to run crewed flights to the ISS through an open competition. The window for proposal submissions was closed on 22 January 2014. Sierra Nevada announced a week later that a privately funded orbital test flight of a Dream Chaser spacecraft, using an Atlas V launch vehicle intended to be purchased by Sierra Nevada, was planned to occur on 1 November 2016. On 16 September 2014, CCtCap concluded with SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner being
3225-443: The first contract extension (missions 7, 8, and 9) is $ 258.7 million ($ 64.6 million/seat), and per-mission cost for the second contract extension (missions 10 through 14) is $ 288 million ($ 72 million/seat). Boeing's CST-100 Starliner – "CST" an acronym for "Crew Space Transportation" – measures 4.6 meters (15 feet) in diameter and 5.1 meters (17 feet) in height. The crew module of Starliner can be reused for up to ten flights, while
3300-554: The first operational CCP mission in 2020, NASA relied on the Soyuz program to transport its astronauts to the ISS. A Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched to space atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle and the capsule returns to Earth via splashdown in the ocean near Florida. The program's first operational mission, SpaceX Crew-1 , launched on 16 November 2020. Boeing Starliner spacecraft will participate after its final test flight , launched atop an Atlas V N22 launch vehicle. Instead of
3375-606: The first test vehicle having been equipped for such capabilities, but these plans were ultimately abandoned in favor of a traditional splashdown return near Florida in either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico . SpaceX's CCtCap contract values each seat on a Crew Dragon flight to be between US$ 60–67 million on the first six missions, while the face value of each seat has been estimated by NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to be around US$ 55 million. Per-mission cost for
3450-468: The hangar on Wednesday, 25 September, as a precaution against potential weather impacts from Hurricane Helene, which was forecast to make landfall near the Florida panhandle on Thursday, 26 September. Crew-9 was able to lift off on the first attempt on 28 September at 17:17:21 UTC (1:17:21 pm EDT , local time at the launch site). With a launch weather forecast that predicted a 45% chance of violating weather constraints and rain clouds that passed by as
3525-575: The launch site). The Crew-9 mission marked several milestones. It was the first crewed mission to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 ; astronaut Nick Hague was the first active U.S. Space Force Guardian to launch to space since the branch was established in 2019; and the mission is expected to be the first Crew Dragon to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The mission was initially planned to transport four crew members— NASA astronauts Zena Cardman , Nick Hague , and Stephanie Wilson , along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov —to
3600-423: The launch was rescheduled to 24 September after NASA decided to return the Boeing Starliner Calypso spacecraft of the Boeing Crew Flight Test without its crew. This delay provided NASA additional time to assess the Starliner's condition, develop a safe return plan for its crew, and reconfigure the Starliner's software for an uncrewed return. ISS has only two IDSS ports, and one was occupied by Crew-8 while
3675-643: The loss of AMOS-6 in an accidental launch pad explosion of a Falcon 9 , the Crew Dragon's launch vehicle. With no further flights in the Soyuz program for American astronauts past 2018, the GAO expressed concerns and recommended in February 2017 that NASA develop a plan for crew rotation in the event of further delays. Following the settlement of a lawsuit against Russian space manufacturer Energia over Sea Launch , Boeing received options for up to five seats on Soyuz flights, which NASA purchased from Boeing. NASA announced
3750-434: The mission, however, was accidentally destroyed in a static fire test of its SuperDraco engines in April 2019, causing further delays to launch of future Crew Dragon flights. The Boeing Orbital Flight Test and Boeing Crew Flight Test , which had both been delayed due to a failed test of Starliner's abort system, were further pushed without explanation from dates in early-to-mid 2019 to late 2019. Boeing conducted
3825-418: The next mission. However, the move had an unforeseen consequence: the trunk module had to be jettisoned before reentry, and while the team expected it would burn up, SpaceX became aware of at least four cases of trunk debris being found on land. The shift back to Pacific Ocean splashdowns means that the trunk can stay attached longer and be directed towards a remote area of the ocean called Point Nemo (nicknamed
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#17328547746453900-958: The orbital insertion burn, following separation from the Centaur upper stage during launch. Once in space, Starliner spacecraft can survive up to 60 hours in free flight. Unlike Crew Dragon, Starliner is designed to return to Earth on land instead of ocean, using airbags to cushion the vehicle's impact with the ground. Four sites in the western contiguous United States – the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah , Edwards Air Force Base in California , White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico , and Willcox Playa in Arizona – will serve as landing ranges for returning Starliner spacecraft, though in an emergency scenario, it
3975-489: The other type of spacecraft is grounded. On 31 August 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX with an additional 5 flights bringing the total number of contracted Crew Dragon flights to 14. The additional flights will run through 2030. The Crew-8 and Crew-9 missions were both modified in response to the unexpected need to support the crew of the Starliner Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), which visited ISS during
4050-400: The other was occupied by Starliner. Therefore, Crew-9 did not launch until after Starliner undocked. Until Crew-9 arrived, they arranged to use SpaceX Crew-8 as their temporary emergency evacuation spacecraft, after which they transferred to Crew-9. Crew-9 was slated to use Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center , which had supported all previous SpaceX's crewed missions and
4125-409: The pilot's seat during launch. While Gorbunov is a qualified engineer and holds the rank of test cosmonaut (making him eligible to be a Soyuz commander), he had only previously received basic training on the Dragon in his role as a mission specialist. Although only serving in a limited capacity, Gorbunov will be the first Russian cosmonaut to be at the controls of an American spacecraft. SpaceX Crew-9
4200-489: The program. The Constellation program was officially cancelled in 2010, with NASA repurposing Orion for exploration beyond Earth, and collaborating with commercial partners for ISS crew rotation and other crewed activities in low Earth orbit following the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. This arrangement would additionally end NASA's dependency on Roscosmos ' Soyuz program to deliver its astronauts to
4275-416: The program; an extension to occupy a fifth seat is available to NASA. Both spacecraft are certified to last up to 210 days docked to the ISS. In addition, the spacecraft were designed to meet NASA's per-mission safety standard of a 1-in-270 chance of catastrophic failure , which is less risky than the 1-in-90 chance of the Space Shuttle. The spacecraft and the ISS have docking mechanisms that implement
4350-523: The protest, citing concerns for crewed operations of the ISS in the event of a delay to the Commercial Crew Program. The GAO declined Sierra Nevada's protest in January 2015, stating that evidence gathered by the GAO discredited Sierra Nevada's claims against NASA; Sierra Nevada accepted the decision. The company laid off 90 staff members working on the Dream Chaser following the CCtCap result, and repurposed
4425-645: The return journey for the Starliner astronauts, Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams . On September 28, 2024, she co-hosted NASA's coverage of the Crew-9 launch, along with NASA communicator Derrol Nail and a brief appearance by Wilson, commenting at length during the nearly five-hour broadcast on the experience that her fellow crew members, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov , were going through as they successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Her hobbies include rock climbing, caving, poetry, and power lifting. Cardman has received numerous academic awards, including
4500-458: The service module is expended during each flight. Various engines manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne for orbital maneuvering , attitude control , reaction control, and launch escape, are utilized by Starliner. Eight reaction control engines on the spacecraft's crew module and 28 reaction control engines on the spacecraft's service module provide 380 newtons (85 pounds-force) and 445 newtons (100 pounds-force) each, respectively. Also located on
4575-414: The service module, 20 custom-made Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) engines provide 6,700 newtons (1,500 pounds-force) of thrust each, while four RS-88 engines provide 178,000 newtons (40,000 pounds-force) of thrust each in a launch abort scenario. During a nominal flight without a launch abort, Starliner can use unspent fuel reserved for its RS-88 engines to help its OMAC engines perform
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#17328547746454650-486: The sole winners, with SpaceX receiving US$ 2.6 billion contract and Boeing a US$ 4.2 billion contract. Sierra Nevada filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in response, citing "serious questions and inconsistencies in the source selection process." The United States Court of Federal Claims upheld a decision to allow development of the Crew Dragon and Starliner to proceed during
4725-596: The space station. The background to this was that SpaceX was likely to launch its sixth flight in early 2023 potentially before Boeing's first operational flight, and NASA concluded that only SpaceX had the capability needed. NASA and Roscosmos have agreed to an annual seat-swapping agreement for three flights each. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, a Russian cosmonaut will fly on one Crew Dragon flight per year while an American astronaut will fly on one Soyuz flight per year. This arrangement ensures that ISS will have at least one crew member to operate essential services even if one or
4800-626: The spacecraft as a for-hire vehicle for commercial spaceflight. A cargo variant of the Dream Chaser would later be developed and selected by NASA to fly uncrewed resupply missions to the ISS under a Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract. While the first flights of Commercial Crew Program were originally intended to be launched by the end of 2017, Boeing announced in May 2016 that their first crewed flight would be delayed to 2018 due to problems integrating with Starliner's Atlas V N22 launch vehicle. In December 2016, SpaceX announced their first crewed flights would also be delayed to 2018, following
4875-563: The time, the launch date was set for Thursday, 26 September. On Tuesday, 24 September, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Freedom capsule were rolled out to SLC-40. However, due to the approaching Hurricane Helene , NASA announced that the Crew-9 launch was delayed until Saturday, 28 September. Following a successful static fire and final dress rehearsal on Tuesday, the SpaceX Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket were rolled back to
4950-697: The total to fourteen and the total contract value to $ 4.93 billion. The Commercial Crew Program uses the SpaceX Crew Dragon to shuttle astronauts to and from the ISS. The Boeing CST-100 Starliner will join it in this role after it is human-rated. Both spacecraft are automated but can be remotely controlled from the ground or manually controlled by their crew via touch screens in case of an emergency. The crew cabins of both spacecraft feature 11 cubic meters (390 cubic feet) of pressurized volume, and can be configured to carry up to seven crew each, though NASA will only send up to four crew on each mission in
5025-496: The two astronauts of the Starliner crewed flight test, using Crew-9. Therefore, Crew-9 launched with a crew of two instead. Hague will serve as commander, flying alongside Gorbunov. The Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom , is a veteran of the SpaceX Crew-4 and Axiom Space 's Ax-2 and Ax-3 missions. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster, designated B1085 , will be making its second flight. Originally scheduled for 18 August 2024,
5100-418: The vendor, and crew transportation is provided to NASA as a commercial service. Each mission sends up to four astronauts to the ISS. Operational flights occur approximately once every six months for missions that last for approximately six months. A spacecraft remains docked to the ISS during its mission, and missions usually overlap by at least a few days. Between the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and
5175-478: Was the first crewed mission to lift off from SLC-40. SpaceX had been constructing a crew access tower at this location since 2023 to facilitate such operations. Hague, a U.S. Space Force colonel, is the first active member of the Space Force to launch into space since the branch was established in 2019. Because the launch moved to SLC-40, the mission also marks the first time a Space Force servicemember launched from
5250-565: Was a finalist, it was rejected due to concerns about the lack of detail in Alliant Techsystems's proposal. In December 2012, the three CCiCap winners were each given an additional USD$ 10 million in funding as the first of two series of "certification products contracts" (CPC) to allow for further testing, engineering standards, and design analysis to meet NASA's safety requirements for crewed spaceflight. The second CPC series manifested as Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap),
5325-525: Was declared a "high-visibility close call" by NASA following an independent review, and a second Orbital Flight Test (Boeing OFT-2) was scheduled for July 2021, with Boeing covering the cost of the flight in lieu of additional CCDev funding. Amid further uncertainties about the Commercial Crew Program's progress, NASA purchased a seat on the Soyuz MS-17 mission to ensure participation in Expedition 64 in
5400-531: Was delayed for weeks until Starliner was able to undock from ISS and clear the docking port. When Crew-9 arrived at ISS, the crew of CFT became members of the Crew-9 crew and will return on Crew-9 at the end of its mission. As of October 2024 , the first operational flight has not been scheduled. It depends on successful completion of a Crewed Flight Test . NASA hopes to extend the seat-swapping arrangement with Roscosmos to include Starliner flights after Starliner has enough flights, which will be no earlier than
5475-423: Was made for the launch of ESA's Hera . The FAA cleared the Falcon 9 to resume flights on 11 October. Note: Times are local to the launch site ( Eastern Daylight Time ). Commercial Crew Program The Commercial Crew Program ( CCP ) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA , conducting crew rotations between
5550-605: Was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 22 and began her two-year training at Johnson Space Center in Houston. On January 31, 2024, NASA announced that Cardman would fly as commander of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station . However, when NASA decided to return the Boeing Starliner capsule on the Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed, Cardman was removed from Crew-9, along with mission specialist and fellow astronaut Stephanie Wilson , to make room on
5625-535: Was still underway in September 2021 and launch was postponed indefinitely. This uncrewed test, Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 , launched on 19 May 2022, and landed successfully on 25 May. On February 28, 2022, NASA announced that it had awarded three additional crew missions to SpaceX bringing the total crew missions for SpaceX to nine and the total contract value to $ 3,490,872,904. In September 2022, NASA announced yet another addition, this time of five missions, bringing
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