NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is on track to launch as soon as 2023, but the team has a lot to do before then.
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Category: space travel – Page 390
Vanessa Wyche, deputy director of the Johnson Space Center, leads a panel discussion with key players of the Apollo program to learn critical lessons that can be applied to NASA’s future human spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars. https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/apollo-8-part-2
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WASHINGTON — Boeing is on track to launch its new astronaut taxi to the International Space Station (ISS) next month.
Along with SpaceX, the private spaceflight company was contracted by NASA to begin launching astronauts from U.S. soil again for the first time since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner won’t be taking any astronauts along for its first flight to the ISS, however. After docking robotically with the orbiting lab, it will return to Earth for a parachute landing in Texas.
If this test flight goes according to plan, Boeing will be ready to launch its first crew of astronauts to the space station in August, Boeing spokesperson Maribeth Davis told Space.com during a presentation of Boeing’s future vision for space travel here. [How Boeing’s Commercial CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft Works].
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For example, Musk said, “Initially making one 200 metric ton thrust engine common across ship & booster to reach the Moon as fast as possible. Next versions will split to vacuum-optimized (380+ sec Isp) & sea-level thrust optimized (~250 ton).”
This comment is notable for a couple of reasons. First of all, the company appears to have decided to streamline the Raptor engine to a single design that will power both the rocket at liftoff, and the spaceship in the upper atmosphere and outer space. It will take less time to develop, test, and qualify a single engine. It will also cost less money.
Additionally, Musk notes that the goal is “to reach the Moon as fast as possible.” The company still appears to be focused on lunar orbital flights, such as the #dearMoon project for Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, as the first missions for Starship.
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