A mockup of the Crew Dragon spacecraft was displayed during a media tour of the SpaceX headquarters (California)
SpaceX owner Ilon Mask on August 14 promised that as early as next year he would deliver the first astronauts to orbit on schedule. This is part of the program to restore American domination in the space race.
Gwynn Shotwell (President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX) told reporters that an unmanned flight to the ISS in November would open the way for a manned mission in April 2019.
NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 as part of a commercial crew program designed to help restore the astronaut launch system on the ISS from US territory. On August 3, the agency named the first 9 astronauts who start on the ships of companies in 2019 - a mixture of newcomers and veterans.
This will be the first attempt to launch people from the American land since the completion of the shuttle program in 2011. All these 7 years of delivery was carried out on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the cost of which reach $ 80 million per seat.
From left to right: Robert Benken, Douglas Hurley, Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover. These are NASA astronauts selected for the commercial crew program
In July, the US government released a report stating that SpaceX would not have time to complete the training and send astronauts to the ISS next year. Shotwell says the company is actively exploring all the safety conditions and hopes for success.
SpaceX presented its astronauts in blue overalls in front of the module, which will deliver them to the ISS.
The spacesuit SpaceX, which NASA astronauts will wear when they go to the ISS on board the Crew Dragon capsule
