NASA now finds SpaceX in the clear to send their people to the International Space Station (ISS) and to the outer space.
For the longest time, NASA employed Russian Federal Space Agency to do the job of transporting their astronauts to the ISS with costs a huge sum amount of money just for a single person. They are paying a lot for the company’s services. But with this new clearing and possibly partnership with private company owned by Elon Musk, the agency would perhaps cut the costs of trips.
NASA had just announced contract of partnership with SpaceX who will now be sending commercial flights to the space station. With this new contract, it is believed that NASA is aiming at ending their business relationship with the Russians for space launches.
Therefore, the Dragon Crew will now be replacing the Russian agency for making safe, stable and affordable flights of astronauts to and back from the ISS.
But it wasn’t so easy for SpaceX to lock the deal as they recently had trouble with the launch pad mid of this year and was undergoing investigation till last month. They had to go through gruelling reviews, testing and demonstrations to prove to NASA that their crafts are very safe to carry humans away to from our planet.
However, they would need to further prove their capability of handling such tasks before NASA eventually says that they are worthy of an actual space mission.
NASA strictly relied on contracting Russia’s Soyuz capsule to send people to the ISS since July 2011. One seat costs $70 million per flight so just imagine how much the agency is spending for scientists to make in orbit experiments. But in the recent years, the agency is looking for an alternative company who can offer reduced costs by same safety and service so they could allot more funds for actual research.
So this new agreement made SpaceX the first ever private company to be contracted by NASA for commercial flights. But many big names in the field proudly sent their criticism over the decision such as Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan.
But the Russian company and SpaceX will work together for future developments and in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
ISS chief scientist Julie Robinson said that the decision was made because they wanted to improve conditions for commercial flights and also allow NASA to fly up to seven members at the same time to the space station with much lowered costs.
Overall, the contract will make the process simpler, cut costs and provide more opportunities for the space agency to make more research that will be beneficial for future missions. Their utmost priority is the safety and good return of their astronauts.
NASA is expected to make its first commercial fight with SpaceX not earlier than late 2017.
