LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Boeing Company performed simulated contingency water landing scenarios with a mock-up CST-100 spacecraft at Bigelow Aerospace's headquarters near Las Vegas. The CST-100 is designed for ground landings, but could splash down on the water, if necessary. During the water tests, Department of Defense search-and-recovery personnel practiced pulling five Boeing engineers out of the capsule and to safety.
The tests are part of the company’s ongoing work supporting its funded Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, or CCP, during the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability, or CCiCap, initiative. CCP is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers to low-Earth orbit. Future development and certification initiatives eventually will lead to the availability of human spaceflight services for NASA to send its astronauts to the International Space Station, where critical research is taking place daily. For more information about CCP, go to http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew. Photo credit: Boeing