The airbags, which are filled with a mixture of compressed nitrogen and oxygen and are located under the capsule’s heat shield, enable ground landings. The heat shield is designed to separate from the craft during descent at about 5,000 feet before airbag deployment.
The CST-100 is slightly smaller than the Orion capsule that Lockheed Martin is designing for CCDev, but it is bigger than the command module used in NASA’s Apollo missions. Boeing and Bigelow have designed the capsule to support up to seven people and to remain in orbit for up to seven months.
Boeing says the companies will also conduct wind tunnel tests and a preliminary design review of their capsule during Phase 2.
The CST-100 is compatible with a number of launch vehicles but will be tested initially on the Atlas V launch system. The Atlas V, formerly operated by Lockheed, is now operated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed and Boeing.
Boeing and Bigelow expect to have the CST-100 fully operational by 2015, which was meant to be the same time NASA would begin commercial flights to and from the International Space Station. However, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told Congress late last year that those flights may not begin until 2017 due to budget issues.
Elizabeth, am not getting the need of this parachute. Is it for carrying passengers from ground station to the international space station or from space vehicle to the space station? Whats the advantage in using this type of space capsules.
Seeing the image of that space capsule reminded me of when I was a kid watching the astronauts touch down after their time on the moon. (I know, I'm dating myself). It was an exciting time and let's hope that these commercial spacecraft endeavors can recapture some of that magic and reignite interest in the space program.
Mydesign, I think this capsule is for both legs of the trip. It would take people to the space station and bring others back.
It really does look like the Apollo capsule. It is typical of the space program that when a single specification changes you have a new device. It is just a scaled up Apollo capsule. It uses the same heat shield approach and lands in the same way. The addition of the air bags allows landing on land as well as water, but that probably could have been added to the Apollo capsule if air bags were as well developed as they are now. Even the chutes look the same as the original, as Beth might well be remembering. So, why does this take so long???
Naperlou: I, too, am curious why this would take so long. About twenty years ago, defense contractors were working on the National Aerospace Plane, which was supposed to fly into earth orbit like an airplane and land like an airplane. I know that got shelved, but it seems like we've gone backwards to the 1960s to do this in the "quick and dirty" fashion used by the Mercury programs. Sounds like it goes up in a classic rocket trajectory. The only difference seems to be that it can land on hard ground.
Actually, the aerospace plane idea goes back 50 years to the Boeing "Dyna-Soar" project. The idea of using wings for lift is so intuitively attractive that I don't think engineers could believe it wasn't practical until we actually built the space shuttle. At the point in the design when they realized it would need the SRBs, they should have given it up. It was a kludge and it incorporate the expense and the risks of both forms fo space flight without giving a lower cost per pound in orbit than a conventional rocket.
The aerospace plane is one of those ideas the sure seems like it ought to be great, but once you actually try to design it, turns out not to be.
Very good questions. This technology has been in use since the 60s. The USSR has be hard-ground landing since day one. The only visible change is the addition of a porthole to enable riders to see outside. My question would be, who's funding this program, and who's receiving the money. Follow the money and you'll likely get some answers.
Since NASA has been dependent on the Russians to get personnel to and from the Space Station ever since the retirement of the Space Shuttle, I just assumed this ws the cheapest and least risky way to regain that capability.
I'm with Beth; this takes me way back to my childhood, watching the news and I Dream of Jeannie (and at least two episodes of Gilligan's Island). The capsule is such an iconic image that it's strange how quickly it faded from our cultural awareness (which, after the shuttle, really is going backwards).
I was just at Udvar-Hazy (Air and Space Annex) by Dulles Airport, and you don't appreciate how small they are until you are standing next to them. Or for that matter, how big the Shuttle was until you walk under it. A must visit destination if you are in the DC area.
But, it does follow the KISS principal (i.e. my size comments above), so I'm excited that perhaps our excile from space will be short lived.
D.Sherman, I think the 'aerospace plane' goes back even a little further than the X-20 "Dyna-Soar", although it also started roughly the same time. My history is probably a little suspect, but I think that level spaceflight was in the works since the beginning of the X project planes (although it was obvious that the initial goal was breaking Mach I). My knowledge is primarily from reading "The Right Stuff", Yeager's biography, and a handfull of articles and book references so it may be full of holes... and I was born after we landed on the moon ('71) so I don't have first hand knowledge.
My understanding is that the space program, since its inception, was split into two major flight model factions... level (horizontal) space flight and vertical space flight. There were advantages to each... level flight was a more controlled, conventional flight whereas vertical flight may have been considered more of a 'down and dirty' approach... Imagine which model the early astronauts (test pilots) preferred. Level flight presents problems at higher atmospheres, as aerodymanics plays less of a role, and environmental oxygen becomes less available combustion engines become more difficult to operate... I think Kennedy's creation of NASA and the Space Race forced us into the vertical flight model because it was 'simpler' (less problems to overcome) and faster because we started out behind in the race.
The X-planes were the of the level-flight model, and I think the X-15 was showing some of the first major successes in level flight. I've always wondered why the level flight model was abandoned (for the most part)... The SpaceShipOne launch vehicle (WhiteKnightOne) and high altitude planes (e.g. SR-71) make me believe that its feasible and has probably been continued to be tested if not publicly.
Why it's taken so long, I'm sure, is a drawn out tale of politics, budgets, technological and fiscal (mis)management, and changes in the public's patriotism, pride, and priorities.
Zippy, you are correct. This is the cheapest way to do it in our current situation. As jhankwitz speculates it is the money (and consequently politics, etc.). I worked on the Space Station in the 1980s. I had colleagues who had worked on it a decade prior. It didn't launch until a decade after. The design is not significantly different from the early concept. We also had experience with Spacelab and MIR. That is one of the most frustrating aspects of the space program. It takes forever to get anything done. During the space race, when we had a goal with a date, we had three capsule designs in less than a decade. Considering our design tools today, the current pace is VERY SLOW...
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
3 
