Przyszłe załogi

[mss]

"Pence will confirm a new launch date for the first private crew missions and announce which crew capsules each of the four selected astronauts will ride to the International Space Station"

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/07/17/mike-pence-will-visit-cape-canaveral-next-month-for-a-big-space-update

Mike Pence will visit Cape Canaveral next month for a big space update

Vice President Mike Pence will visit NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral next month to announce the first astronaut crews under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, will confirm a new launch date for the first private crew missions and announce which crew capsules each of the four selected astronauts will ride in to the International Space Station.

His visit is slated for Aug. 3 in the afternoon, right before the Parker Solar Probe launch, and President Trump – who originally planned to make the announcement – may accompany him.

Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley and Sunita Williams were selected in 2015 to become the first astronauts to launch from U.S. soil since NASA's shuttle program lapsed in 2011. They will also become the first U.S. astronauts to ride in spacecraft made by a private company – SpaceX and Boeing.

NASA awarded SpaceX $2.6 billion and Boeing $4.2 billion in 2014 to each build crew capsules that can safely ferry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner are the two crew capsules in production, each going through multiple rounds of testing in an arduous certification process imposed by NASA.

Earlier this month, a federal watchdog report blasted NASA and the two aerospace contractors for precipitating costly delays to a debut crew launch. The report, drafted in April and released in July, cited missteps from NASA in ensuring the probability and cost of death in the event of an explosion during a crewed mission and warned that further production delays for the capsules could result in vacancies on the ISS.

"Without a viable contingency option for ensuring uninterrupted access to the ISS in the event of further commercial crew delays, we concluded that NASA was at risk of not being able to maximize the return on its multibillion dollar investment in the space station," the report read.

Pence's announcement will mark a milestone in the race to get U.S. astronauts lifting off from Cape Canaveral launchpads again.

"It's great to see all the progress that all the commercial crew companies are making for getting the vehicles flight-ready and getting our astronauts launching from U.S. soil," Phil Larson, a former space policy advisor to President Barack Obama, told Orlando Weekly in an interview.

"That's what we wanted to see and hope to see when we started the program in the early days of the Obama administration," Larson added. "It was to close the gap in human spaceflight that we were facing with the retirement of the space shuttle."

The space coast is starting to see tangible progress in the commercial crew program, too. SpaceX's Crew Dragon is slated for new rounds of testing in Florida. "Crew Dragon arrived in Florida this week ahead of its first flight after completing thermal vacuum and acoustic testing at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Ohio," a spokeswoman for SpaceX said in an email.

The visit from Pence – and possibly Trump – will fall just before the launch of NASA's new Parker Solar Probe, which is lifting off from Kennedy Space Center in the early hours of Aug. 4.

[velo]

Chyba przydziały już nieoficjalnie znamy. Więc będzie to rzeczywiście "big update"

[kanarkusmaximus]

Ale może na oficjalnie zostaną oni ogłoszeni, zaprezentowani + wyjdą w skafandrach kosmicznych?

[mss]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/07/24/feature/nasa-trained-boeing-employed-chris-ferguson-hopes-to-make-history-as-a-company-astronaut/

Boeing has selected Chris Ferguson to fly as its corporate astronaut on the first crewed test flight of the Starliner, reports the Washington Post.

    He still looks every bit the NASA astronaut he once was. Same chest-out posture. Same Top Gun instincts. Same American flag on the left shoulder of his flight suit. Chris Ferguson even has a call sign, “Fergy.”

    There is one small detail that sets Ferguson apart from the NASA astronauts he is training alongside. Where they have the space agency’s red-white-and-blue logo on their spacesuits, he wears Boeing’s corporate insignia — a small accessory that symbolizes what the space agency hopes is a new era in space travel.

    ...Ferguson now flies not just for the country, but for his employer. Boeing uses its own test pilots to run its vehicles through the paces, including commercial airliners and fighter jets. A spacecraft is no different, Ferguson said.

[kanarkusmaximus]

Nowa era?

corporate astronaut

[mss]

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1021833993002659841

The event August 3 announcing updates to NASA’s @Commercial_Crew program moved to Johnson Space Center from Kennedy Space Center, a KSC source tells me. It is unclear if @VP Pence will still attend.

         

He will not

SPOILER ALERT: Commercial crew flight tests ain't happenin' in August like it says on the schedule. Not sure why the Veep would want to announce that.

[mss]

19 byłych astronautów pozostaje w grupie Menadżerów.

Aktualny wykaz pod adresem: http://lk.astronautilus.pl/astros/activusa.htm.

Już 18 byłych astronautów pozostaje w grupie NASA Management Astronauts. 24.07.2018 nazwisko
Gregory C. 'Ray J' Johnsona zostało przerzucone do NASA Former Astronauts.

[JSz]

Nowa era?

corporate astronaut

Jakiś czas temu krążyły po naszym Forum informacje o tworzeniu korpusów astronautów w SpaceX i Boeingu. Zdążyły się już rozsypać z wiadomych powodów. I już wtedy mówiło się, że Ferguson jest najpoważniejszym kandydatem do lotu. Może kiedyś doczeka się...

[mss]

Jest oficjalny komunikat NASA pod adresem: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-name-astronauts-assigned-to-first-boeing-spacex-flights

NASA to Name Astronauts Assigned to First Boeing, SpaceX Flights

NASA will announce on Friday, Aug. 3, the astronauts assigned to crew the first flight tests and missions of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, and begin a new era in American spaceflight. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will preside over the event, which will begin at 11 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

NASA will announce the crew assignments for the crew flight tests and the first post-certification mission for both Boeing and SpaceX. NASA partnered with Boeing and SpaceX to develop the Starliner spacecraft to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and the Crew Dragon launching atop the Falcon 9 rocket, respectively.

U.S. media are invited to attend the event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and, afterward, speak with the astronauts about their assignments. Media wishing to attend must contact Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 4 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana will join Bridenstine and representatives from Boeing and SpaceX to introduce the crews.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems designed to carry crews safely to and from low-Earth orbit. The Starliner and Crew Dragon will launch American astronauts on American-made spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station for the first time since NASA retired its Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

Commercial transportation to and from the space station will enable expanded station use, additional research time and broader opportunities of discovery aboard the orbiting laboratory. The station is critical for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, and necessary for a sustainable presence on the Moon and missions deeper into the solar system, including Mars.

Following the announcement, the astronauts will participate in a Reddit Ask Me Anything at 12:30 p.m. at:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/

Images and video highlights from the announcement will be available at:

https://images.nasa.gov

[mss]

Jest podejrzenie po obejrzeniu materiału filmowego nr 198 z wątku: http://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=1575.msg120919#msg120919, że wśród 9-ki kandydatów z ZEA są 2 kobiety. Możliwy więc jest udział 2 kobiet w załodze Sojuza MS-12...

[mss]

Roskosmos na jutro zapowiedział ogłoszenie kandydatów do oddziału rosyjskich kosmonautów. Z 13 kandydatów (bez kobiet) ma być ogłoszonych 6-8 kandydatów.

[mss]

https://twitter.com/astro_luca/status/1027455419118243840

Crew photo: always a fun time #cheese

[mss]

Już 18 byłych astronautów pozostaje w grupie NASA Management Astronauts. 24.07.2018 nazwisko
Gregory C. 'Ray J' Johnsona zostało przerzucone do NASA Former Astronauts.

August 9, 2018

MEDIA ADVISORY: M18-008

Veteran Astronaut and Aviator Retires from NASA

Gregory C. “Ray J” Johnson, who piloted the space shuttle and more than 50 different aircraft, has retired after 28 years of service to the agency.

Johnson came to NASA in 1990 as a research and instructor pilot in the Aircraft Operations division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998 and piloted space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Most recently he had served as the chief of the Aircraft Operations division and deputy chief of the Flight Operations Directorate.

"Working and flying with Ray J has always been a pleasure," said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations. "We will miss him both in the office and in the air, but we wish him the best as he begins a new phase in his career.”

Johnson is a retired U.S. Navy Captain from Seattle, Washington. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington, and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

During the STS-125 mission, Johnson and his crewmates spent 12 days, 21 hours and 37 minutes in space, making repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. They orbited the Earth 197 times, traveling more than 5 million miles.

In addition to piloting Atlantis in space, during his time at NASA, Johnson also piloted the T-38 jets used to train astronauts, the WB-57 high altitude research plane, the KC-97 Super Guppy and the KC-135 zero-gravity plane, among others. He was the fifth chief of the Aircraft Operations division chief in the group’s more than 55 years of operation, before being named deputy chief of the Flight Operations directorate.

Between his time in the Navy and at NASA, Johnson has logged more than 11,800 hours in more than 50 aircraft.

For Johnson’s complete biography, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/johnson-gc.pdf

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/veteran-astronaut-and-aviator-retires-from-nasa

[mss]

Roskosmos ogłosił 8 kandydatów na przyszłych rosyjskich kosmonautów:

1) Konstantin Siergiejewicz Borisow (ur. 14.08.1984);
2) Aleksandr Władimirowicz Gorbunow (ur. 24.05.1990);
3) Aleksandr Siergiejewicz Griebionkin (ur. 15.07.1982);
4) Siergiej Nikołajewicz Mikajew (ur. 15.08.1986);
5) Kiriłł Aleksandrowicz Pieskow (ur. 01.05.1990);
6) Oleg Władimirowicz Płatonow (ur. 27.06.1986);
7) Jewgienij Walerjewicz Prokopjew (ur. 09.03.1986) - brat Siergieja Prokopjewa, który jest obecnie na MSK;
8) Aleksiej Witaljewicz Zubrickij (ur. 22.08.1992);

[Orionid]

В новый отряд космонавтов вошли восемь человек
10 августа, 15:46



(...) Отбор прошли военнослужащие старший лейтенант Алексей Зубрицкий и капитаны Александр Гребенкин, Сергей Микаев и Олег Платонов, работники РКК "Энергия" инженер 1-й категории Александр Горбунов и инженер-испытатель 2-й категории Евгений Прокопьев, руководитель по внедрению инноваций в ООО "Ферронордик Машины" Константин Борисов и второй пилот Boeing-757/767 авиакомпании "Икар" Кирилл Песков. (...)

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5447043