NASA-SpaceX to launch first operational flight of Crew Dragon in October

After Elon Musk's SpaceX made history with NASA-SpaceX Crew Dragon successful test mission, the iconic duo is all set to put together the next launch no earlier than October 23. The second mission would be the first operational flight with astronauts of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International  Space Station (ISS) as a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. 

The future NASA’s SpaceXCrew-1 mission will mark the first of the regular rotational missions to the space station after receiving the completion certificate by NASA. While revealing all the details in a blog, the agency said that the mission will carry Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker, all of NASA, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi for a six-month-long mission.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 crew members are seen seated in the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft during crew equipment interface training. From left to right are NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; and Mike Hopkins, Crew Dragon commander; and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, mission specialist. Photo credit: SpaceX

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Similar to the May 31st launch, the Crew-1 liftoff is also scheduled to take place from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late October. The date is set towards the end of the year to accommodate spacecraft traffic for the upcoming Soyuz crew rotation and also to best meet the needs of the ISS. 

The NASA-SpaceX Crew-1 launch would be followed by the arrival of NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos aboard their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft along with the departure of NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner from the ISS.

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What all is pending for NASA-SpaceX Crew-1 mission?

NASA has revealed that the NASA-SpaceX Crew-1 mission is still pending the completion of data reviews along with certification following NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight that launched NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station in May and returned safely in August.

They made a splashdown off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico and marked the completion of the first crewed flight test of a commercially-owned and operated human space system. Moreover, the NASA-SpaceX Crew-2 mission is scheduled for next spring.

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