With Congress concerned that U.S.-Russian relations may impact our ability to run or even get to the International Space Station, SpaceX is stepping up with their first crewed Dragon spacecraft. The Dragon has already brought equipment to the ISS, and you can watch them unveil the ship that will ferry astronauts to the station live tonight at 10PM ET.
Since the space shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA has been relying on Russian spacecraft to send astronauts to space. But with recent comments that NASA can shove it use a trampoline to get to space for all Russia cares, it’s great to see that the private spaceflight industry should be able to fill the void and bring our astronauts to the ISS.
According to SpaceX, the new craft will be able to carry as many as seven astronauts to the ISS, which is a lot more than the three person capacity of the currently used Soyuz capsules. It will also be outfitted with SuperDraco thrusters that can help safely abort a launch in an emergency, and they may one day be used to land the Dragon V2 on other planets.
SpaceX released a video of the SueprDracos in action a few days ago:
(via io9, image via SpaceX)
- We might need this if Russia really wants us to use a trampoline to get to space
- Check out their reusable rocket in action
- Or their other rocket hovering in the air to Johnny Cash
