This veteran NASA astronaut has tried SpaceX and Boeing's new spaceships and spacesuits — here's what she thinks

After nearly a decade of effort, SpaceX and Boeing are preparing to launch the first NASA astronauts on commercial spaceships.

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon may fly their first crews in December and January. The goal of NASA's Commercial Crew program, as it's called, is to taxi astronauts to and from the $150-billion International Space Station. Accomplishing that would close an increasingly expensive gap in the US' space travel capabilities.

In 2015, NASA selected astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams and three other "space pioneers" to test then fly the new spaceships.

"Five years ago, this would have been like, 'No way, what are we doing asking commercial providers to be able to do this?'" Williams told Business Insider. "Now it feels like a natural progression for space travel."

Williams has flown inside three spaceships, served as commander of the International Space Station, lived in orbit for 322 days, and piloted 30 different types of aircraft for the Navy.

This extensive resume has come in handy over the past three years, as Williams has worked closely with Boeing and SpaceX. She and her colleagues have poked and prodded spacecraft mock-ups, tried on new spacesuits, fiddled with control panels, tested out simulators, and provided frank and sometimes critical feedback.

Here's why NASA needs Boeing and SpaceX, what Williams thinks of their new ships and suits, and how she's preparing to blast off into the uncharted territory of a new space race.

SEE ALSO: Every spacesuit NASA astronauts have worn — and the new models that may revolutionize how they explore the solar system

DON'T MISS: SpaceX cargo launches may soon cost 50% more — but it's still an offer NASA can't refuse

Williams said she and the rest of the "Commercial Crew Cadre," as they're called — astronauts Doug Hurley, Eric Boe, and Bob Behnken — have worked "hand-in-hand" with Boeing and SpaceX since being assigned to the program by NASA in 2015.

NASA started the Commercial Crew program to replace its space shuttles. The cost of shuttle launches was high: Each mission cost about $1.5 billion, including development costs, and 14 astronauts died. The 135th and final mission launched in July 2011.

Source: Nature

So when NASA sent Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012, the agency had to buy her a seat on a Russian Soyuz spaceship. To this day, Soyuz is still the only spacecraft able to journey to and from the ISS.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Contributer : Tech Insider https://ift.tt/2K7tT1e

Something that you might miss to see?