SpaceX will take a significant step forward in human spaceflight with its next mission — flying what would be the first all-civilian crew in a flight scheduled for September that would orbit Earth for a few days.
With another human spaceflight success, SpaceX turns toward flying private citizens to space Christian Davenport
Replay Video UP NEXT One day, Elon Musk has said, he would like human spaceflight to be as routine as commercial airline travel, with regular flights through the atmosphere ferrying astronauts around the solar system. That day is not here yet not even close. But after Sunday’s flawless return of four astronauts to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the company has made space travel look easy, at least for one flight, and even had some fun with it. After NASA Crew-1 astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover along with Japan’s Soichi Noguchi splashed down in a pinpoint landing at 2:56 a.m., just south of Panama City, SpaceX’s ground controller said: “We welcome you back to planet Earth. For those of you enrolled in our frequent-flier program, you’ve earned 68 million miles on this voyage.”
SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon docks with International Space Station
Derek Richardson
April 24th, 2021
Following the arrival of the Crew-2 Dragon astronauts, seen in black shirts, the International Space Station’s population temporarily increased to 11. Credit: NASA
Less than 24 hours after launching from Florida, SpaceX’s Crew-2 Dragon arrived at the International Space Station, temporarily increasing the crew size aboard the outpost to 11.
Crew-2 Dragon with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet docked with the forward port of the Harmony module at 5:08 a.m. EDT (09:08 UTC) April 24, 2021. A couple hours later at 7:05 a.m. (11:05 UTC), the hatches between the two vehicles were opened and after about 35 minutes the astronauts joined the seven others already aboard the ISS.
1 week away: NASA, SpaceX s Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station
By FOX 35 News Staff
Published
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - We are one week away from the next crewed launch into space.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting Thursday, April 22 for their second crew flight aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour, carried by the company s Falcon 9 rocket.
Liftoff is currently scheduled for 6:11 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center s Launch Complex 39A. The crew will head to the International Space Station (ISS), with expected arrival on Friday morning.
Photo from NASA
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To prepare for the mission, NASA said on Tuesday that the astronauts have entered quarantine, also known as flight crew health stabilization. It is a routine part of final preparations before space flight. They will spend two weeks isolated to ensure that they are healthy, protecting themselves and the astronauts they will meet at the ISS.
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