NASA: SpaceX's mission to fly 2 astronauts 'essential' during pandemic - Business Insider

for nearly a decade. Bridenstine noted that Crew Dragon represents "a new era in human spaceflight" since it's poised to become the first brand-new crewed space vehicle to fly since 1981 .

With the emergence of a new human-rated US spaceship, NASA could instead start trading seats with Russia for access to the ISS. But most at stake is the use of orbital research facilities on the ISS, for which the US has paid handsomely to build — about $100 billion over two decades — yet has struggled to fully utilize by flying a minimal number of astronauts aboard Soyuz.

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