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After nearly a decade of effort, SpaceX and Boeing are gearing up to launch NASA's first astronauts on commercial spacecraft.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon could pilot their first crews in December and January. The purpose of NASA's Commercial Crew program, as it is called, is to transport astronauts to and from the $ 150 billion International Space Station. Realizing this would fill an increasingly expensive gap in US space travel capabilities.
In 2015, NASA selected astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams and three other "space pioneers" to test the new spacecraft.
"Five years ago, it would have been like," Not at all, what are we doing to ask commercial suppliers to do that? Williams told Business Insider, "Now it feels like a natural progression for space travel."
Williams flew inside three spacecraft, served as commander of the International Space Station, lived in orbit for 322 days and flew 30 different aircraft types for the Navy.
This extensive resume has been helpful over the past three years as Williams worked closely with Boeing and SpaceX. She and her colleagues pushed and pushed spacecraft models, tried new scuba suits, played with control panels, tested simulators and provided frank and sometimes critical comments.
Here is why NASA needs Boeing and SpaceX, what Williams thinks of their new ships and their combinations, and how it is getting ready to embark on the unexplored territory of a new space race.
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