SpaceX launches astronauts on Dragon!

Do you know what’s happening this upcoming Wednesday May 27 at 4:32 pm EST?! United States astronauts will launch from U.S. soil on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for the first time since 2011!! Watch to find out more about the exciting event!

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Do you know what’s happening this upcoming Wednesday May 27 at 4:32 pm EST?!

United States astronauts will launch from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011. What happened in 2011? NASA decided to shut down the Space Shuttle program due to financial and personnel constraints. But, NASA wants to continue exploring the space. So, in place of the decommissioned program, NASA created the Commercial Crew Program where private vendors develop and operate crew vehicles to carry U.S. and international astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX had received contracts from NASA to provide crewed launch services to the ISS.

So, this Wednesday, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will send two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to ISS. The trip is part of the Demo-2 mission to help prove the Crew Dragon systems meet NASA’s requirements for certification to carry astronauts to the ISS and back. 

Once in orbit, the crew will verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the control systems and maneuvering thrusters, etc. Then, they will dock the ISS and continue to perform tests on the Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew before returning to the Earth.

The Demo-2 mission will be the final major step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. This certification and regular operation of Crew Dragon will enable NASA to continue the important space and technology research. The research and the Commercial Crew Program will lay the ground work for NASA’s Artemis program, which will land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024. 

So, be sure to watch the exciting space launch this upcoming Wednesday!