Published 13:27 IST, October 2nd 2020
SpaceX releases never-before-seen footages from its first astronaut flight; see
Elon Musk's SpaceX has is all set to launch a new crew off Earth to the ISS on October 30. See the new clip released by the company of the Demo 2 mission.
Elon Musk’s space exploration corporation SpaceX released never-before-seen video clips from its first manned spaceflight mission. The video was released on Tuesday, September 29 on its official YouTube channel. It features astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Demo-2 mission, which was the first manned flight by of the company’s Crew Dragon Spaceship. Read on to know more.
SpaceX releases never-before-seen footages from Demo-2 mission
The Demo-2 mission was a live telecast on both SpaceX and NASA's channels. It was an incredibly smooth mission. At the end of the video, astronaut Hurley says, “We hope it brings a little bit of brightness to a pretty tough 2020.” The SpaceX footage sees astronaut Behnken and Hurley deriving to the launch site at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The NASA astronauts give a thumbs up to the onlookers before boarding the Crew Dragon capsule. This is followed by, Mission control saying, “Four…three…two…once…ignition, liftoff.”In the next second that SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignites and launches itself against Earth’s gravity.
In the SpaceX video, viewers can see that once the capsule enters space, astronaut Behnken does a backflip and in the next moment stuffed sequinned dinosaur floats around the capsule. As the toy starts to float, observers know that the crew Dragon capsule has finally entered space. Towards the end, the video shows Crew Dragon docking with the Space Station.
The astronauts finally met up with other members of Expedition 63. The stunning montage ends with, them returning to Earth in a small white capsule which shrieks through our planet’s atmosphere. Finally, its parachute is deployed and in a gentle splashdown, it lands in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX Crew Dragon to liftoff on October 30, once again
Source: SpaceX (Twitter)
After the successful launch of SpaceX Crew Dragon and safe return of the onboard NASA astronauts, Elon Musk's space corporation is now targeting October 31 for the launch of SpaceX Crew-1 mission. The mission is manned with astronauts who will be floating off to the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX have updated that target launch date and time. The liftoff is scheduled for 2.40 am EDT on October 31, which falls on Halloween.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will be launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be carrying astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker from NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It will the first time when an international crew will be flying aboard a NASA-certified, commercially-owned and operated American rocket and spacecraft from American soil.
Image Source: SpaceX (Instagram)
Updated 13:27 IST, October 2nd 2020