Tag: crewed
Virgin Galactic’s next crewed flight will blast to the edge of space later this month
Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its first crewed flight in nearly two years. The space tourism company announced that it will launch its Unity 25 crew into space later this month but didn’t provide a specific date.
The upcoming spaceflight is “the final assessment of the full spaceflight system and astronaut experience” ahead of Virgin Galactic’s first commercial flight that’s planned for the end of June. Unity 25 marks the company’s fifth spaceflight and will launch four Virgin Galactic employees — Beth Moses, Luke Mays, Jamila Gilbert, and Christopher Huie — to the edge of space.
#VirginGalactic is returning to space in late May. Meet the #Unity25 crew → https://t.co/7gKH6db8gg pic.twitter.com/lbGhF6BJB8
— Virgin Galactic…
NASA and Boeing reveal new date for first crewed Starliner flight
Boeing Sets Date for First Crewed Starliner Launch, but Parachute Tests Remain
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore could finally hitch a ride to the ISS aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on July 21, but tests of the capsule’s parachute system threaten to delay the beleaguered project even further.
NASA pushes back Boeing Starliner’s crewed flight test to July
The first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is facing yet another delay, with NASA officials saying Wednesday that it is now targeting no earlier than July 21 for launch. The space agency and Boeing blamed the delay on certification issues related to the capsule’s parachute system and other verifications on Starliner’s components and […]
NASA pushes back Boeing Starliner’s crewed flight test to July by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch
Boeing Starliner crewed flight delayed again, NASA says
NASA and Boeing set date for first crewed test flight of Starliner
NASA’s ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ aced first flight and is ready for crewed Artemis II launch
The enormous Space Launch System passed its first test with flying colors, NASA’s preliminary analysis concludes, and the rocket and Orion capsule are good to go for their next mission: Artemis II, which will carry a crew to lunar orbit. After numerous delays and enormous cost overruns, some worried that the SLS (nicknamed the “Mega […]
NASA’s ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ aced first flight and is ready for crewed Artemis II launch by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch
NASA and DARPA will test nuclear thermal engines for crewed missions to Mars
NASA is going back to an old idea as it tries to get humans to Mars. It is teaming up with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to test a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space with the aim of using the technology for crewed missions to the red planet. The agencies hope to “demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. “With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever — a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars.”
Under the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate will take the lead on technical development of the engine, which will be integrated with an experimental spacecraft from DARPA. NASA says that nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) could allow spacecraft to travel faster, which could reduce the volume of supplies needed to carry out a long mission. An NTD engine could also free up space for more science equipment and extra power for instrumentation and communication.
As far back as the 1940s, scientists started speculating about the possibility of using nuclear energy to power spaceflight. The US conducted ground experiments on that front starting in the ’50s. Budget cutbacks and changing priorities (such as a focus on the Space Shuttle program) led to NASA abandoning the project at the end of 1972 before it carried out any test flights.
There are, of course, risks involved with NTP engines, such as the possible dispersal of radioactive material in the environment should a failure occur in the atmosphere or orbit. Nevertheless, NASA says the faster transit times that NTP engines can enable could lower the risk to astronauts — they could reduce travel times to Mars by up to a quarter. Nuclear thermal rockets could be at least three times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion methods.
NASA is also looking into nuclear energy to power related space exploration efforts. In 2018, it carried out tests of a portable nuclear reactor as part of efforts to develop a system capable of powering a habitat on Mars. Last year, NASA and the Department of Energy selected three contractors to design a fission surface power system that it can test on the Moon. DARPA and the Defense Department have worked on other NTP engine projects over the last few years.
Meanwhile, the US has just approved a small modular nuclear design for the first time. As Gizmodo reports, the design allows for a nuclear facility that’s around a third the size of a standard reactor. Each module is capable of producing around 50 megawatts of power. The design, from a company called NuScale, could lower the cost and complexity of building nuclear power plants.
China Releases Video Simulating Its First Crewed Lunar Landing
China’s crewed lunar program is starting to take shape, with plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. A new simulation shows what that lunar landing could look like, revealing the next-generation spacecraft and lunar lander that would make the future journey to Earth’s satellite.