SpaceX and NASA are finally ready to take a major leap forward in the space industry. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon rocket has had its fair share of troubles over time, but it’s finally stable enough to launch two astronauts (Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken) up to the International Space Station.
It won’t be a long trip, with the astronauts scheduled to return home after about 14 days on the ISS. However, it will be an important moment for SpaceX nonetheless. It will prove that not only is the Crew Dragon capsule itself viable for space transport, but also that the company is equipped to handle the stressful burden that comes with safely transporting human beings to space and back.
The launch is now scheduled for May 27, after a couple of delays. It’ll be the first crewed mission launched by NASA in quite some time, and we’ll be following it closely — there’s a lot riding on this mission’s success. If it works out, SpaceX will be allowed to start performing more regular crew transportation missions between the ISS and Earth. The first “proper” mission of that nature is tentatively set to take place later this year.
Crew Dragon from Demo-2 will perform an automated undocking from the ISS with Behnken and Hurley on board when it is ready to leave, and then they’ll re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and have a controlled splashdown landing in the Atlantic Ocean, where a SpaceX ship will pick them up and bring them back to Florida.
Obviously, NASA and SpaceX are facing challenges, along with everyone else, with the global COVID-19 crisis ongoing, but the agency has taken extra precautions to ensure this mission continues, since NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine notes that continued U.S. access to, and presence within the ISS is critical.
