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#1220 by arachnitect on 10 Dec, 2015 22:36
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Astronauts Celebrate With Builders Topping of Crew Access Tower
https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2015/12/10/astronauts-celebrate-with-builders-topping-of-crew-access-tower/QuoteFour astronauts training for test flights with NASA’s Commercial Crew program joined the festivities at Space Launch Complex 41 Thursday morning as one of the highest steel beams was placed on the Crew Access Tower during a “topping off” ceremony with United Launch Alliance, Boeing and Hensel Phelps at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch site in Florida.
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#1221 by yg1968 on 11 Dec, 2015 03:36
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From the same blog/article:Quote
The Crew Access Arm and White Room the astronauts looked over today will be attached to the tower after several months’ of testing and fit checks.
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#1222 by Beittil on 11 Dec, 2015 08:09
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Love how they constructed part of the towers top for this at groundlevel
Cool photo's to!
Is the the 'actual' CAA or just an engineering article? Seems to me that if everything checks out they would just remove this one from the fitting stand and then hoist it up to the real CAT. -
#1223 by woods170 on 11 Dec, 2015 09:36
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Love how they constructed part of the towers top for this at groundlevel
That's the actual CAA. Cool photo's to!
Is the the 'actual' CAA or just an engineering article? Seems to me that if everything checks out they would just remove this one from the fitting stand and then hoist it up to the real CAT. -
#1224 by catdlr on 17 Dec, 2015 21:36
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Astronauts Tour Starliner White Room, Celebrate Topping of Access Tower
Published on Dec 17, 2015
Astronauts training for test flights with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program – Bob Behnken, Eric Boe, Doug Hurley and Suni Williams – toured the Crew Access Arm and White Room under construction near Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 10. Later they took part in a traditional "topping off" ceremony for the Crew Access Tower to which the arm and white room will eventually be installed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Thanking employees for months of construction work, the astronauts watched along with employees as the beam was hoisted and welded into place. Boeing will launch astronauts aboard the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station, first flying an uncrewed test flight in 2017.
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#1225 by Chris Bergin on 18 Dec, 2015 20:13
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December 18, 2015
RELEASE 15-240
NASA Orders Second Boeing Crew Mission to International Space Station
NASA took an important step Friday to establish regular crew missions that will launch from the United States to the International Space Station with the order of its second post-certification mission from Boeing Space Exploration of Houston.
"Once certified by NASA, the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon each will be capable of two crew launches to the station per year," said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. "Placing orders for those missions now really sets us up for a sustainable future aboard the International Space Station."
This is the third in a series of four guaranteed orders NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts. Boeing and SpaceX received their first orders in May and November, respectively, and have started planning for, building and procuring the necessary hardware and assets to carry out their first missions for the agency. NASA will identify at a later time which company will fly a mission to the station first.
Boeing met the criteria for NASA to award the company its second mission with the successful completion of interim developmental milestones and internal design reviews for its Starliner spacecraft, United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and associated ground system.
Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is seeing the buildup of the Starliner structural test article, and nearby, the main column of the crew access tower is in place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Flight trainers are nearing completion in Boeing’s St. Louis facility and rocket parts are starting to come together in Huntsville, Alabama.
“As our company begins its second century, our Starliner program continues Boeing’s tradition of space industry innovation with commercial service to the space station,” said John Mulholland, vice president and manager of Boeing’s commercial crew program. “We value NASA’s confidence in the Starliner system to keep their crews safe.”
Commercial crew missions to the space station will restore America’s human spaceflight capabilities and increase the amount of time dedicated to scientific research off the Earth, for the Earth and beyond. A standard commercial crew mission to the station will carry up to four NASA or NASA-sponsored crew members and about 220 pounds of pressurized cargo. The spacecraft will remain at the station for up to 210 days, available as an emergency lifeboat during that time.
“With the commercial crew vehicles from Boeing and SpaceX, we will soon add a seventh crew member to International Space Station missions, which will significantly increase the amount of crew time to conduct research,” said Kirk Shireman, manager for the International Space Station Program. “This will enable NASA and our partners to ramp up the important research being done every day for the benefit of all humanity.”
Orders under the CCtCap contracts are made two to three years prior to actual mission dates in order to provide time for each company to manufacture and assemble the launch vehicle and spacecraft. Each company also must successfully complete a certification process before NASA will give the final approval for flight. Each provider’s contract includes a minimum of two and a maximum potential of six missions.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manages the CCtCap contracts and is working with each company to ensure commercial transportation system designs and post-certification missions will meet the agency’s safety requirements. Activities that follow the award of missions include a series of mission-related reviews and approvals leading to launch. The program also will be involved in all operational phases of missions to ensure crew safety.
For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
To stay up-to-date on commercial crew progress, bookmark the program’s blog at:
http://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew -
#1226 by Chris Bergin on 18 Dec, 2015 20:14
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By the way, when we go over the Christmas "break" (no such thing on the internet), I'll be sorting out new threads and such to look to set up a Starliner standalone section.
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#1227 by oiorionsbelt on 31 Dec, 2015 18:12
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This is the first I've heard of Boeing also building new space suits. Do we have any information on them?
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#1228 by arachnitect on 31 Dec, 2015 18:53
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This is the first I've heard of Boeing also building new space suits. Do we have any information on them?
They were working with David Clark earlier. Haven't heard anything recently, but I assume that's still the case.
David Clark made the shuttle ACES gear, but is also advertising a commercial spaceflight product.
http://www.davidclarkcompany.com/aerospace/chaps -
#1229 by oiorionsbelt on 31 Dec, 2015 19:27
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The Quote is from Elon's GQ interview and the picture from David Clarks website.
"one of the more embarrassing things about space suits is that the backside kind of pooches out pretty bad."
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#1230 by arachnitect on 04 Jan, 2016 21:04
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Commercial Crew Across America: Windsor Locks, ConnecticutQuote
NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold recently got an up-close look at the environmental control and life support system, known as the ECLSS, that Boeing will integrate into its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for crew flights to the International Space Station. The visit with UTC Aerospace Systems in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on Dec. 9 allowed the team to show off the critical components of the system designed to keep astronauts and the Starliner’s electrical systems safe in space, including cool, breathable air. The team recently passed a critical design review of the system, which will be fully integrated next year.
edit: forgot the link: https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2016/01/04/commercial-crew-across-america-windsor-locks-connecticut/
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#1231 by Chris Bergin on 06 Jan, 2016 13:18
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On to thread 3:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39244.0
This is all now in a new Starliner CST-100 Forum Section (you're in it right now). Leaving this thread unlocked in case you want to quote some posts and continue the conversation in the new thread (as in don't post in this one)
Cool photo's to!