Tag: CCP
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With Demo-2, NASA finds itself in foreign yet familiar territory
As the transition from government-owned crew launch rockets to commercial providers arrives, NASA launch integration is in a very different position than it has been with other human spaceflight programs like Apollo and Shuttle. With all launches, hundreds of thousands of things have to align perfectly for a rocket to lift off. And many of…
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Demo-2 passes FRR milestone ahead of historic Crew Dragon launch
The path to regaining US domestic crew launch capability passed another major milestone on Friday, with the Demo-2 mission approved at the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) level during a two-day meeting at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Approval at the FRR provided the mission with NASA’s Certification Of Flight Readiness (CoFR). With Falcon 9 and…
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From Shuttle Sadness to Dragon Delight – USA prepares to regain domestic crew launch capability
The gap in US domestic crew launch capability is coming to an end as soon as next month, concluding a convoluted and painful path that ultimately began when Columbia was lost during STS-107. The last time American astronauts launched from US soil was in 2011 with Shuttle Atlantis during STS-135. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is set…
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Boeing & NASA admit multiple anomalies on Starliner mission
After saying for weeks the spacecraft and systems performed “as designed” after recovering from a Mission Elapsed Timer issue just 31 minutes after launch and point-blank saying that no other anomalies occurred on the mission, Boeing and NASA have now admitted that two more serious issues — one of which could have led to the…
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Bridenstine, NASA ASAP provide updates on Commercial Crew Program
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has made significant progress in recent months towards its first crewed flights. The missions will be the first orbital crewed launches from the United States since the ending of the Space Shuttle program. In two separate statements released on Tuesday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel…
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OFT Starliner Makes Early Landing at White Sands
After a maiden flight that was shortened by an off-nominal orbit insertion, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner conducted its first landing from orbit. Touchdown at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico occurred at 5:58 AM MST (12:58 UTC) on December 22. The spacecraft approached from the southwest, overflying the Pacific Ocean and Baja California. If,…
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Starliner suffers mission-shortening failure after successful launch
After a gorgeous and 100% successful launch atop the Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance, Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner crew capsule suffered a mission-shortening failure just 30 minutes into its inaugural flight. A Mission Event Timer issue resulted in Starliner burning a significantly larger amount of propellant than planned and forced Boeing and NASA to…
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Boeing, ULA launches Starliner, suffers orbital insertion issue – will return home Sunday
A moment nearly ten years in the making. After receiving a formal development award on 18 April 2011 for their CST-100 crew capsule, Boeing sent its Starliner spacecraft on its inaugural flight, albeit one that will be cut short. The uncrewed test, known as the Orbital Flight Test — or OFT — launched on a…
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Starliner arrives at launch pad in major pre-flight milestone
The first Starliner crew vehicle from Boeing has arrived at SLC-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for stacking operations with its Atlas V rocket. Starliner rolled out of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at the Kennedy Space Center earlier this morning for the multi-mile trip to the pad. The event…
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SpaceX conducts static fire of Crew Dragon’s abort system engines
SpaceX conducted a static fire test of their human-rated Crew Dragon capsule on Wednesday near the company’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral. The test was a major milestone for SpaceX, who is working towards restoring America’s crewed orbital launch capability. Under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX, along with Boeing, are developing vehicles to transport…