In Wind Tunnels and Flight Tests, NASA’s Next Manned Spacecraft Are Taking Shape

[longknife]

By Jason Paur, 06.07.13 @ Wired

Boeing, SpaceX and the Sierra Nevada Corporation have achieved major milestones in their space programs, testing the vehicles they hope will carry astronauts into orbit and reestablish NASA’s manned space program. NASA is providing a total of more than $1 billion in funding to the three companies to develop a new spacecraft. The agency has said it most likely will select a single design and hopes to begin flying astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017.

Read more @ In Wind Tunnels and Flight Tests, NASA's Next Manned Spacecraft Are Taking Shape | Autopia | Wired.com

 

[whitehall]

A Billion dollars to three companies and they are only going to pick one design. Pretty lucrative research. How much did they contribute to the Obama presidential space race?

 

[ScienceRocks]

You're being foolish Whitehall. Seriously, Obama is doing something that would cost 3-4 times as much if it was done purely by the government. I'd wisely stick with Space-x as Musk appears to have the best idea of wtf he's doing and could very likely end up lowering the price to orbit many times over. The Falcon 9 with the dragon alone is a big step forward to this, but you just wait until the grasshopper gets to 150,000 feet as planned...Fuel only cost around 3 percent of the price of the rocket. Understand that.

What's wrong with doing real research and development that pays well. People like you are going to make this nation a very pathetic nation 20 years from now. Get a life and understand that the 18th century was shown to be the past not long after the constitution was adopted. Madison's idea's led to the first white house being burnt to the ground! As we found out that our nation needed a standing military.

Attacking Obama for doing something right isn't wise.