WASHINGTON — NASA’s latest call for proposals to conduct private astronaut missions to the International Space Station opens the door to having those missions commanded by someone other than a former NASA astronaut.
NASA announced April 2 it issued a solicitation for the next two private astronaut missions, or PAMs, to the ISS. These will be the fifth and sixth such missions to the ISS, part of a broader low Earth orbit commercialization effort by NASA with the ultimate goal of replacing the ISS with one or more commercial stations.
The PAMs support that effort “by leveraging our decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed to train and manage crews, conduct research, and develop future destinations,” Dana Weigel, NASA ISS program manager, said in a statement. “Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort, providing companies with hands-on opportunities to refine their capabilities and build partnerships that will shape the future of low Earth orbit.”
The new solicitation includes rules dating back to the second PAM that require such a mission to be commanded by a former NASA astronaut with flight experience. One minor change is that NASA requires that commander to have served as a long-duration ISS crewmember, defined as 30 days or more.
NASA also requires the commander to have been involved in ISS operations in the last five years or else show evidence of “current, active participation in similar, relevant spaceflight operations” or provide a training plan become familiar again with ISS operations.
The solicitation, though, offers an opportunity to have those future missions commanded by someone other than a former NASA astronaut. While companies must propose a commander who meets current requirements, it can also propose an alternate commander who is a former astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency or Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency with similar ISS experience…
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