Getting America to orbit on US-made vehicles

Dr. Patricia Hynes

Dr. Patricia Hynes - This column has never been political, and it still isn't. Republicans and Democrats alike agree, the commercialization of human spaceflight makes sense. How did this bi-partisan support within the space program occur? In the case of the shuttle replacement project sending Americans to orbit on American-made spacecraft, it started under President George Bush, and has been continued under President Obama. Congress agreed, it is best for the government to buy rides on private launch vehicles and use privately manufactured capsules or spacecraft to send Americans to orbit to do government work. My last article covered the recently successful Mars Science Laboratory Mission (MSL) and the landing of the Curiosity Rover. That story was such an affirmation of determination I could not resist putting it in perspective relative to Olympian achievements. Yet, there was another story that occurred two days prior to the MSL success. It was the selection by NASA of the three companies who will compete to carry U.S. astronauts to and return astronauts from the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capabilities (CCiCAP) Program. Boeing Space Exploration, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Sierra Nevada Corporation were the funded winners, receiving $460 million, $440 million and $212.5 million respectively. OK, I realize I just hit my limit on acronyms. CCiCAP is a 21-month-long program that will require the selected companies to design their launch vehicles, and spacecraft for humans and integrate both into a system. The STS or Shuttle Transportation System was made up of the launch vehicle and the orbiter. The launch vehicle's job is to get the orbiter or spacecraft going fast and high enough to reach orbital speed. Read More News New Mexico

Getting America to orbit on US-made vehicles