NASA is in the process of deciding the next vehicles to use for the future of getting astronauts to space. The decision will be rendered any time between now and September with the possibility of two to three companies getting contracts. 

Presently, astronauts have been getting to space with help from the Russian Space Shuttle that uses solid rocket boosters.

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For each of these missions to space, NASA has been spending US$70.7 million for each one-way trip for astronauts to space.

NASA is considering three vehicles that might be able to suit their purposes of ushering astronauts to and from space.

The first on their list is SpaceX's Dragon V2. SpaceX has been using the Dragon to bring cargo to the space station. However, the V2 has been upgraded be able to land on solid ground with the use of thrusters, as well as the capability to bring humans.

The primary interest in SpaceX's craft is the potential of reusable rockets that can significantly cut costs. While the reusability factor has not been completed due to a SpaceX rocket test going wrong recently, the team is working on achieving this.

If successful, this could possibly also lead to the use of these crafts to Mars.

Boeing's CST-100 is the next spacecraft in NASA's radar. It is a pyramid-shaped capsule similar to the Dragon V2 in that it is also placed on top of a rocket to get to space.

It has been tested with drops as high as 14,000 feet, but has yet to reach space.

While the CST-100 is only compatibly with the Atlas V rocket that has been used to bring satellites to space many times, scientists are working to adjust its compatibility to any type of rocket.

The final potential space vehicle is Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser. This vehicle differs greatly from the first two as it is shaped as a sort of space-plane.

The Dream Chaser would also be lifted to space via a rocket, but would be able to execute a landing on a runway via landing gears.

Tests have been done on the Dream Chaser by tethering it to helicopters and being dropped in free flight, with the latter being unsuccessful due to the landing gears not opening in the landing process.

TagsNASA, Space X Dragon V2, Boeing's CST-100, Sierra Nevada Dream Catcher