Boeing and SpaceX , owe to manufacturing delays and certification hurdles , are unlikely to provide NASA with the vehicles required to transport astronauts to the International Space Station next year , according to an alarming government write up . As a result , and starting in late 2019 , the U.S. might not have a crew aboard the ISS for nearly an intact yr .
NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program is in hazard , according to a report issue this calendar week by the U.S.Government Accountability Office , anda design is now demand to insure continuous entree to the International Space Station . Failure to do so could leave in the U.S. turn a loss its ability to beam cosmonaut to the ISS once NASA ’s contract expires with Russia ’s Soyuz program in November of 2019 . The GOA story monish that the U.S. may lose its ability to send astronauts to space for a period lasting nine month or more .
And that sucks . The country that send astronauts to the Moon from 1968 to 1972 like it was nobody ’s business , the country that maintained a ( middling ) reliable astronaut delivery service from 1981 to 2011 in the form of the now - retired Space Shuttle Program , could soon be ground . It would appear that NASA ’s shift to using individual sector partner , in conjunction with budget cutting , has now made the United States a scrap player when it comes to launching crew delegation into space . At least for now .
In 2014 , NASA signed contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to acquire vehicles capable of channelize astronaut to the ISS . Collectively , the contract are worth $ 6.8 billion , according to GAO , but the programs have been harass with wait . The SpaceX Dragon capsule was originally scheduled for other 2017 , but it ’s not expected to be certified until February 2019 . Boeing ’s Starliner , which was suppose to be quick during the third quarter of 2017 , has been pushed to January 2019 .
So both vehicle could be ready in early 2019 , but that ’s not the problem . The issue as the GAO sees it has to do with NASA ’s rather vague certificate process , which is needed to determine if these unexampled capsules will be dependable enough for human spaceflight . The current process require NASA to assess the probability of a crew appendage getting killed or disabled during a flight . However , NASA “ does n’t have a consistent approach for calculate this metric , ” which signify “ results can vary based on who within NASA is conducting the analysis , ” according to the GAO write up . The government auditors say further delays are probable , as the “ Commercial Crew Program ’s schedule risk of infection analysis shows that the certification milepost is likely to slip . ”
This show an obvious problem . With the Soyuz contract bridge pop off late next twelvemonth , these foreknow delays could result in a disruption , possibly lasting nine months or more , in which the United States wo n’t be able to commit astronauts to the ISS . NASA could seek to reserve seats aboard future Soyuz missions , but that could be easier pronounce than done . “ The process for manufacture the [ Soyuz ] space vehicle and contracting for those seats typically takes three years — meaning additional seats would not be available before 2021 , ” notes the GAO story .
It ’s all very bleak , but the GAO made several recommendations in its theme . In plus to regularly sharing its schedule risk of infection depth psychology with Congress , GAO says NASA should “ develop and assert a contingency plan for check a presence on the ISS until a Commercial Crew Program contractor is certified . ” In advance of these capsules being ready , the blank space agency should do a full limited review of how it determines risk margin levels for its bunch . And once NASA has completed the hoped-for credentials reviews , it “ should document lessons learned [ relating to the potentiality ] expiration of crew as a guard threshold for future crew spaceflight mission , yield the complexity of the metric . ”
The GAO ’s recommendations are as vague as they are obvious . Of course , NASA want a backup program , and a way to desexualize this involved credential thing . But hey , what more should we look from regime auditors ? Their task is to point out the problems , not to figure out them . NASA , and particularly Congress , which holds the purse string , need to compute this dirt out . This is all totally not nerveless .
[ GAOviaAFP ]
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