US Rockets Will Launch Astronauts In 2019, Says NASA Director

US Rockets Will Launch Astronauts In 2019, Says NASA Director

Science

NASA officials are seemingly very confident about the Commercial Crew Program that would help astronauts reach the International Space Station via rockets. James Bridenstine, the director of the agency, did make a guarantee that US astronauts will be launched to space from US soil using US rockets itself. The best part is that he is sure about the incident happening in 2019. This information was shared during an interview that was given from NASA Headquarters. The director believes that NASA is so close to this mission. This basically means that NASA is confident about SpaceX and Boeing, which are counted for the CCP.

This move would be something great for NASA, which has been relying Soyuz rockets – from Russia – for taking astronauts to the space. It has been the custom since 2011, which was the year Atlantis made to the space. It needs to be noted that the Russian rocket does not come cheap, but costs a whopping $84 million per astronaut. This relation between the NASA and Russian Space Agency has been receiving much criticism from users and lawmakers alike. Now that the Commercial Crew Program is all set to succeed, this would be a great relief for NASA and the US space enthusiasts in general.

NASA has been making some announcements regarding the space-flight programs that will be using SpaceX and Boeing rockets. It had in fact announced the names of the astronauts who will be boarding the vehicle in the first mission. At the same time, both SpaceX and Boeing are working hard to perfect the technologies and take the crew to the International Space Station so safely. It should be noted that the plans for launching rockets from US soil has been the dream since the Obama administration. However, if it succeeds next year — despite being four years late —, it will be a great achievement for the Trump agenda.