Video of NASA CCiCAP Awards Announcement

Posted
by
Doug Messier
on August 3, 2012, at 12:09 pm
in News
.
Comments: 3 responses
3 Comments

Video Caption: On August 3, 2012, NASA announced agreements with three industry partners “to develop and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities that could ultimately lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for both commercial and government customers.”

The award winners were The Boeing Company, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.

The event was webcast live by NASA and is in the public domain.

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  • http://delphinus100.angelfire.com/link3.htm Frank Glover

    Was this about Commercial crew, or Orion/SLS? There were a few minutes there when it wasn’t clear (as there’s an Orion/SLS ‘plug’ in almost any CC statement from NASA, lately)…

  • http://www.parabolicarc.com Doug Messier

    Yeah, there’s a couple of political imperatives at work here, especially in an election year. One is to try to demonstration that NASA is still in the human spaceflight business (lack of launches not-withstanding). The second is to show that KSC and Florida have absorbed the blow from shuttle’s retirement and are on the upswing again. The third is to remind commercial crew critics how much money NASA is pouring into Orion and SLS. The overall image is of NASA on the mend, advancing across a broad front that includes not only Earth orbit but deep space.

  • Steve

    Below were my choices last month in the poll. I would like to admit that NASA likely picked a better 1/2 since my rational to choose Sierra Nevada over Boeing maybe was not the most efficient. Giving Boeing the responsibility to fund ULA to get the Atlas V prepared is probably a much wiser decision since they can likely do this more effectively and their CST-100 is likely to be ready for a launch before Dream Chaser (just an educated guess). Congratulations to the winners who are very deserving. WELL DONE NASA.

    //////////////// comments made 07/23/2012 ////////////////
    Here is my choice for selection for the 2 1/2.

    #1 (full funding) SpaceX, of course, using Falcon 9 rocket and the enhanced Dragon capsule.
    #2 (full funding) Sierra Nevada with ULA using the Atlas V rocket and the Dream Chaser spacecraft.
    #3 (half funding) Boeing with ULA using the Atlas V rocket and the CST-100 capsule.

    This choice will essentially provide 3 fully funded programs given that the ULA Atlas V rocket is the launch vehicle for both Dream Chaser and CST-100. And, giving Sierra Nevada full funding (versus Boeing) lessens the chance that Boeing will use its influence over ULA to sway development by ULA toward the CST-100 versus the Dream Chaser.

    Solid rocket boosters are powerful but not a viable long term solution for reducing costs and increasing reusability. But I hope ATK stays in on their own dime since who knows what they can come up with. In addition, ATK will be a part of the SLS designed by our great aerospace engineers in congress. Amazing how congressman and women can be both legislators and great aerospace engineers at the same time

    Lastly, Bigelow can certainly be the MOST important variable in the sustainability of multiple crewed space vehicles over time, providing many more potential destinations. And my 3 choices I believe would all support a docking with a Bigelow BA330 complex.

    Good Luck to all in the running. This is a very exciting time for a space enthusiast.