NASA is preparing its "return to
the future," with the signature of a contract for building the
first of two space shuttles expected to take astronauts to the
Space Station in 2017, six years after the last shuttle flight,
officials said Thursday
Thus the end of the Russian monopoly in capacity for
transporting human teams into space is planned.
NASA aims to re-acquire that capacity thanks to commercial
accords with private companies such as Boeing and Space X.
The first order was garnered by Boeing while for Space X,
the order could arrive by the end of the year, NASA sources say.
Thereafter, NASA underlines, one will decide which of the
two space vehicles that are developed will be the first to fly.
The order comes eight months after NASA signed a contract
with Boeing and Space X to build capsules for future manned
flights.
The new space shuttles are the Crew Space
Transportation (CST -100) by Boeing e the Crew Dragon capsule
of Space X.
The Space Station, meanwhile, almost is ready to receive
them - the transfer of the Leonardo module was done expressly so
as to leave the mooring free.
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