Boeing recently gave reporters a look at a pair of control-panel simulators it has built for training astronauts how to fly its CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station. The company made its engineers available for interviews, and NASA brought in some subject-matter experts from its Commercial Crew Program. Also on hand were two of the astronauts—Eric Boe and Suni Williams—selected for the “initial cadre” that will fly the Starliner and the SpaceX Crew Dragon beginning in 2018.
It was an interesting session, providing a sense that the U.S. government really is handing off the job of transporting humans into space to the private sector. It also gave a sense of how that will be different from the old way of doing business.
“We would ask that when you take photos, please do it so you can’t read what the screens say,” urged a Boeing press handler. The text on the screens was proprietary, company officials explained, and they didn’t want their counterparts at SpaceX to see it.
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