Musk ‘deeply honored’ by NASA contract

[Buster's Uncle]

Musk ‘deeply honored’ by NASA contract
MarketWatch
By Claudia Assis Energy reporter  Sept 17, 2014 12:05 p.m. ET

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SpaceX 



SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)—Elon Musk, the CEO of s SpaceX as well as Tesla Motors Inc., tweeted his thanks to NASA for choosing his rocket company (and Boeing Co.) to take U.S. astronauts back to space in a few years.

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Deeply honored and appreciative of the trust that @NASA has placed in @SpaceX for the future of human spaceflight

5:13 PM - 16 Sep 2014

2,053 Retweets   2,787 favorites

 
NASA late Tuesday said SpaceX and Boeing BA, -0.07%  had been selected to build and operate space shuttles to take astronauts to the international space station. SpaceX was awarded a $2.6 billion contract, while Boeing got $4.2 billion.

Their goal is to be ready for the manned missions by 2017. The companies will design, test, and certify their ships and work on at least two and up to six missions to deliver a crew of four to the space station.

NASA’s long-range goal is to reach Mars, with support from as many providers as possible, officials said.

That dovetails nicely with Musk’s own plans for Mars. SpaceX’s “ultimate goal,” according to its website, is “enabling human life on Mars.”


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