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An Astronaut's View Of The SpaceX/NASA Partnership

The Crew Dragon spacecraft atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched Saturday transporting two astronauts to the International Space Station.
NASA/Public Domain
The Crew Dragon spacecraft atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched Saturday transporting two astronauts to the International Space Station.

From Texas Standard:

Saturday's launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent two astronauts to the International Space Station or ISS. It was the first time in almost a decade that humans had left the Earth from U.S. soil, and it was also the first joint mission between NASA and a private company.

Christina Koch is a NASA astronaut who made four spacewalks and spent the longest amount of time on a single trip to space of any female astronaut. She told Texas standard host David Brown on Monday that the public-private partnership between NASA and SpaceX is likely going to become the norm for space exploration.

"Let's bring companies on board to not only fly people to [the International Space station], but let's bring companies on board to do the science," Koch said. "I think the more partnerships the better."

She said safety standards shouldn't change as space exploration becomes more commercialized. SpaceX used NASA's safety protocols in Saturday's launch of the rocket that carried the Crew Dragon capsule.

That rocket is the first to send astronauts to space that is owned and operated by a private company. Koch said the model SpaceX and NASA used for the launch will be one other private companies can replicate in the future.

She also said having private space companies take over transporting astronauts to the ISS frees up NASA to focus on long-term projects like returning to the moon, and exploring Mars.

"It gave us the bandwidth to be able to focus our sights on the new and the deeper exploration," she said

Web story by Caroline Covington.

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Rhonda is the newest member of the KUT News team, joining in late 2013 as producer for KUT's new daily news program, The Texas Standard. Rhonda will forever be known as the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the first full-time hire for The Texas Standard?” She’s an Iowa native who got her start in public radio at WFSU in Tallahassee, while getting her Master's Degree in Library Science at Florida State University. Prior to joining KUT and The Texas Standard, Rhonda was a producer for Wisconsin Public Radio.