Space policy: the United States will fly to the ISS without Russia – Moskovsky Komsomolets

The first flight is scheduled for 2017

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the United States intends to refuse the delivery of services in Russia its astronauts to the ISS. As stated in the NASA, Boeing and SpaceX won contracts for 6.8 billion dollars to build a manned spacecraft. Thus in Washington want to reduce their dependence on Russia for space – now deliver astronauts to the ISS on the Russian “Soyuz”. Each flight costs Americans at $ 71 million.

Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

“We fulfill the promise of President Obama’s return to space launches to the United States and end our dependence on Russian,” – said the head of department Charles Bolden . (In 2011, America turned its program “space shuttle” Space Shuttle).

According to Bolden, the initial cost of the project to develop a manned spacecraft, which will fly to the International Space Station, will be about 6.8 billion dollars. Both companies will use the system on the basis of landers-capsules. Boeing presented its project to the competition spaceship CST-100 and SpaceX – ship design Dragon. Bolden said the United States expects to launch the first independent manned mission to the end of 2017 c Cape Canaveral, Florida, reports RIA “Novosti”.

Both NASA selected corporations already have almost completed projects, so that the allocated state funds intended for the final touches, writes, Gazeta.ru. Back in May, CEO and Chief Engineer SpaceX Elon Musk presented its orbital taxi – manned capsule Dragon V2. On the video was shown, as the ship will be docked to the ISS and return back to Earth. Among the new technologies – heat shield capsule, as well as thrusters, which help to slow down the decline of the ship during landing. Usually engines discarded as lifting spacecraft into orbit, but the engines are built in the Dragon Corps. The device will be able to land anywhere in the world without a parachute, including the water.

The inventor has always been obsessed with the idea to create a reusable spacecraft. “As long as we continue to throw missiles and space vehicles, we never get a real access to space. This will always be incredibly expensive,” – he said at the presentation. Second Dragon is reusable. “You just need to get fuel, and can fly again. This is essential for access to space” – then said Musk.

Mask is ready to conduct the first flight of Dragon V2 into orbit at the end of 2015 – without astronauts in automatic mode. A first test flight with humans on board could be held in 2016.

In turn, Boeing in early June also showed their new ship with an encrypted name CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation). It is expected that a single ship can be used up to ten times, it will land with a parachute. Capsule sent into space by a rocket Atlas 5, but if you want the module can be combined with other carrier rocket. As vice-president of John Mulholland, their ship will begin to experience in 2017.

After the United States imposed sanctions against Russia because of the annexation of Crimea and events around the Ukraine, they made an exception for projects in which interested themselves, in particular for the ISS. Meanwhile, Russia’s deputy prime minister for defense industry Dmitry Rogozin on Twitter suggested that Americans “to take its astronauts to the ISS using the trampoline”.