Leaky valves on Boeing's new spacecraft are increasing the risk that NASA astronauts could lose access to the space station

Boeing

• NASA is about to name astronaut crews for the first commercial spaceships, built by Boeing and SpaceX.
• Neither company met NASA's original goal to finish building and certifying its spaceships in 2017 and now hope to do so in 2019.
• However, a recently discovered fuel leak in Boeing's spacecraft, called the CST-100 Starliner, has resulted in new delays.
• If no American spaceship is ready by the end of next year, NASA might temporarily have no way to reach the International Space Station.

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NASA is preparing to name a batch of astronauts who will fly the first-ever commercial spaceships: the CST-100 Starliner built by Boeing and Crew Dragon built SpaceX.

But the agency is staring down a real possibility that it might not be able to send people into space after next year.

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See Also:

• NASA is naming at least 8 astronauts to fly SpaceX and Boeing's new spaceships — here's how to watch the announcement live
• NASA is about to name the astronauts who will fly SpaceX and Boeing's spaceships for the first time — here's who they might be
• An astronaut photographed the 'blood moon' from the International Space Station, and his pictures are haunting

SEE ALSO: An astronaut photographed the 'blood moon' from the International Space Station, and his pictures are haunting

DON'T MISS: SpaceX may still rocket 2 mystery customers around the moon — here's what Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell says the trip may be like

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