====== The New Argonauts: A Brief History of the Commercial Crew Program ======
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is a landmark initiative by the United States' space agency, [[NASA]], designed to foster the development of private, commercially-owned and operated crewed space transportation systems. Its primary objective was to end America's sole reliance on the Russian [[Soyuz]] spacecraft for transporting astronauts to and from the [[International Space Station]] (ISS), thereby restoring the nation's domestic human spaceflight capability. Born from the ashes of the retired [[Space Shuttle]] program, CCP represents a fundamental paradigm shift in the history of space exploration. It moved [[NASA]] from its traditional role as the designer, owner, and operator of its own spacecraft to a new model as a customer, purchasing transportation services from commercial partners. This public-private partnership aimed not only to solve a pressing geopolitical and logistical problem but also to ignite a vibrant, competitive, and self-sustaining commercial economy in low Earth orbit, forever changing the way humanity reaches for the stars.
===== The End of an Era, The Dawn of Dependence =====
On July 21, 2011, the [[Space Shuttle]] Atlantis glided to a final, silent stop on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center. It was more than the end of a mission; it was the conclusion of a thirty-year saga. The [[Space Shuttle]] program, for all its triumphs and tragedies, had