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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump's shutdown is keeping US astronauts on the ground
The first step towards getting US astronauts flying on an American rocket was scheduled for next week, but NASA announced today that the government shutdown will delay the widely anticipated SpaceX test flight until February.
The US space agency hired Elon Musks SpaceX and aerospace giant Boeing to develop a commercial transportation service to bring astronauts to orbit. This would replace the space shuttle that was cancelled in 2011 and the Russian-made Soyuz rockets that have carried astronauts to the International Space Station since then.
The program began in earnest in 2012, but the hoped-for flight date of 2017 is long past, thanks in no small part to previous under-funding by Congress, according to the Government Accountability Office.
2019 is intended to be the year of US human spaceflight: Both Boeing and SpaceX have scheduled un-crewed and crewed test flights, with SpaceXs uncrewed flight, Demo-1, previously scheduled for Jan. 17. More important than setting dates on the calendar are the completed vehicles SpaceX and Boeing are bringing to the launch pads.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/trumps-shutdown-is-keeping-us-astronauts-on-the-ground/ar-BBS4ngI?li=BBnb4R7
No space force for you.
RainCaster
(10,962 posts)I couldn't get the link to work, so I don't have any idea of the details about this. But if anyone knows--why does a private launch company need NASA?
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,485 posts)RainCaster
(10,962 posts)That article answered the question.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,414 posts)Most importantly for these test flights, however, is having NASA engineers on hand to verify the data and conduct joint reviews of the test programs to certify rockets for operational use. Its as if you showed up to take the test for a drivers license and the office was closed, indefinitelybut with rockets.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)I hope those NASA engineers watching them are working.