Three Companies Building Space Shuttle Candidates For NASA

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"The three companies that are building space taxis to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station all say they're on track to get their spaceships into orbit by 2017 - provided that NASA keeps the money flowing. "

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/sierra-nevada-corp-s-dream-chaser-takes-shape-real-space-n125046

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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 1,918 • Replies: 6

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@Brandon9000,

SpaceX had introduced its Dragon V2 spacecraft, which already can be manned.
The original Dragon design made made the first commercial cargo delivery to the ISS in 2012. Untilnow,Dragon has already made three of 12 NASA contracted missions to the ISS, carrying cargo but not astronauts.
They wouldn't only transport NASA astronauts but those from other countries as well. (The The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA, Roskosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.)

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@Brandon9000,

This is good news.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

It's a news which has been published here in Europe differently, because here, nothing was mentioned that the transport would be only for NASA-astronauts. (That's one of the reasons, why ESA and the German space center work with SpaceX.)

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@Walter Hinteler,

I would hope that these companies would be free to work with other entities, but to the extent that NASA is funding the development of these vehicles (fully or partially), clearly they are entitled to at least first dibs on their use.

In point of fact, the article doesn't state that the transports would only be for NASA.

Quote:

Sierra Nevada is hedging its bets by forging partnerships with other players in the space game. On the commercial side, the company is exploring potential spaceport deals with officials in Texas, Colorado and Florida. And in January, Sierra Nevada announced that it was collaborating with the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center. "We're expecting three or four other countries to join us shortly," Sirangelo said.
Sirangelo makes it sound as if he's intent to turn the Dream Chaser into something more than a dream, no matter what NASA decides. And maybe part of the reason is that as a licensed pilot, he's interested in taking a turn in the cockpit himself someday.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Might be that I misread the first sentences.

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The US was not very much interesting in keeping the ISS going even with Russian help, If Russia pulls out as promised NASA will have no interest. Maybe Musk will buy it to run a space tourism operation.

As far as science goes the ISS is nearly useless, and now that the original political purpose for the thing is kaput it is time to sell it or burn it.

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Three Companies Building Space Shuttle Candidates For NASA

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