NASA, SpaceX's Elon Musk To Discuss Crew Dragon Plans This Week

The U.S. space agency NASA and Elon Musk-led SpaceX will hold discussions on Thursday to expedite the Crew Dragon project.

The urgency that NASA feels on the project was evident when NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated Elon Musk recently during the unveiling the SpaceX's Starship prototype in Texas.

But in a tongue in cheek comment, Bridenstine said: “Expects to see the same enthusiasm focused on the investments of the American taxpayer.”

The NASA official was making a veiled reference to the long-delayed Commercial Crew Program in which Space X has been a partner.

Musk replied to the taunt by pointing to NASA's oft-delayed SLS project, per Space X news.

However, Thursday will be important as Bridenstine will visit SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne and check on the company's progress and also meet up with the media also.

The NASA official will be accompanied by Musk and two astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley who are scheduled to take flight on Crew Dragon's Demo-2 flight to the ISS.

During the meeting, Space X is expected to seek more time for the Crew Dragon project. There is a high curiosity on the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch date and what the duo would say on the project's new schedule.

Updates on the meeting are expected from Bridenstine's Twitter account after the parleys with Elon Musk and Space X team.

According to NASA news, the Commercial Crew program started in 2010 and SpaceX and Boeing were roped in September 2014 under multibillion-dollar deals to build capsules called Crew Dragon and the CST-100 Starliner respectively.

NASA was expecting to have at least one spacecraft ready by the end of 2017. But that did not happen. The commercial crew program entails the development of private American space taxis that can ferry astronauts to and fro from the International Space Station.

Dependence on Russian rocket

The U.S space shuttle was retired in July 2011. After that, the only space shuttle that was traveling to the ISS and back was Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The new predicament for NASA is that the Russian rocket flying for the past eight years retired last week. There is no American spacecraft ready to take over.

Russia’s new rocket will not be ready until the spring of 2020.

Space Launch System (SLS) mentioned by Elon Musk is a super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle being developed by NASA. It is facing delays but is very strategic as the Mars rover experiments. The SLS will serve as a primary launch vehicle for human missions to Mars and crewed lunar flights.