SpaceX/NASA sign new Dragon agreement

[docm]

<p>Link....</p><p>Quote:</p><font size="1"><p><strong><font size="4">SpaceX and NASA to Improve Mission Critical Software Systems</font></strong></p><p><strong><em><font size="3">Effort Will Help Close Spaceflight Gap by Supporting ISS Cargo Delivery Program as Well as Potential Crew Carrying Dragon Spacecraft Missions to the International Space Station</font></em></strong></p><p><strong><font size="3">HAWTHORNE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and NASA&rsquo;s Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Facility at Fairmont, West Virginia, working through the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) of Greenbelt, Maryland, announced the signing of a Space Act Agreement effort to advance the state of the art in mission- and safety-critical software that will be used for sending SpaceX&rsquo;s Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).</font></strong></p><p><font size="3">SpaceX was selected by NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to develop and demonstrate vehicles, systems, and operations needed to perform space flight demonstrations, including rendezvous and berthing with ISS. SpaceX is teaming with NASA&rsquo;s IV&V/GSFC facility to enhance confidence in mission- and safety-critical software elements.</font></p><p><font size="3"><strong><font color="#800000">Specifically, NASA&rsquo;s IV&V Facility will provide an additional layer of assessment and mission assurance, including a full analysis of the system software for a SpaceX-developed UHF communications unit. The system provides low-cost, high reliability space-to-space communications directly between Dragon and ISS.</font></strong> The Dragon spacecraft also utilizes NASA&rsquo;s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the Iridium commercial satellite telephone system for maximum flexibility and performance.</font></p><p><font size="3">"NASA&rsquo;s IV&V Facility will provide SpaceX with invaluable expertise and add an additional layer of scrutiny as we move forward with our cargo delivery missions to the ISS," said Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. "No other group has more experience in mission- and life-critical systems; their independent review will insure that our crew transport systems will perform to the highest possible safety requirements."</font></p><p><font size="3">The IV&V effort will be funded by SpaceX, and will benefit both SpaceX and NASA by providing assurance that the cargo- and crew-carrying Dragon spacecraft will perform as expected under a wide range of scenarios. This agreement is to be executed in three phases, with the first two phases worth nearly five hundred thousand dollars.</font> </p></font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Cygnus_2112]

So from your posts, the space program doesn't exist if spacex is not involved

 

[docm]

<p><font size="3">No, just reporting an interesting&nbsp;presser I found online while retaining the order-of-mention<em><strong> in the Business Wire article</strong></em> in&nbsp;the post title.&nbsp; </font></p><p><font size="3">This is <em><strong>Space Business</strong></em>, is it not?&nbsp; I wasn't aware that SpaceX wouldn't fit&nbsp;that catagory.</font></p><p><font size="3">Also; what does that reply have to do with the article at hand?&nbsp; Sounds like it's about&nbsp;my&nbsp;choice of topics & interests&nbsp;more than the subject at hand....again....and pardon me but those are my choices to make and not yours.</font></p><p><font size="3">Sheeshhhh....</font></p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[windnwar]

<br />Its good to see them continuing to make progress and to be fostering a very good relationship with NASA. It will certainly give us more options in the coming years then we'd have otherwise, and if they succeed it'll be worth every penny invested in it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font size="2" color="#0000ff">""Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." --Albert Einstein"</font></p> </div>