Tuesday, August 21, 2018

NASA Gives Nod To SpaceX Fueling Plan

NASA has given the nod to Hawthorne-based SpaceX, for its plan to fuel its rockets while astronauts are on board its Crew Dragon spacecraft. In a statement, published on Friday, NASA said it will allow SpaceX to use its "load-and-go" approach to fueling its Falcon 9 rockets even while astronauts are onboard its Dragon spacecraft. Critics of the process had cited the catastrophic failure of a Falcon 9 rocket during those refueling efforts in 2016. NASA selected SpaceX earlier this month--along with Boeing--to launch astronauts into space as part of its commercial rocket efforts, and as part of an effort to return astronaut launch capability to US shores. SpaceX is attempting to place astronauts into space by April of next year.