SpaceX Crew Dragon to Ferry Four Astronauts to International Space Station on November 14

NASA certified as safe the Crew Dragon capsule developed for regular astronaut transportation by SpaceX.

SpaceX Crew Dragon to Ferry Four Astronauts to International Space Station on November 14

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

SpaceX has been operating space station re-supplying flights with cargo version of the Dragon since 2012

Highlights
  • Take-off is planned for 7:49pm Saturday (6:19am IST Sunday)
  • They are expected to arrive at the ISS eight hours later
  • The next crewed mission is expected to blast off at the end of March 2021
Advertisement

Three NASA crew and one Japanese astronaut are set for launch aboard a SpaceX rocket Saturday, bound for the International Space Station in the program's first six-month routine mission since the United States resumed crewed space flight in May after nine years of reliance on Russia.  

NASA on Tuesday officially certified as safe the Crew Dragon capsule developed for regular astronaut transportation by SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk that carried two astronauts to the ISS in May and back to Earth again in August without major incident. 

"I'm extremely proud to say we are returning regular human spaceflight launches to American soil on an American rocket and spacecraft," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said. 

Take-off is planned for 7:49pm Saturday (6:19am IST Sunday) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with American astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on board. 

As of Tuesday evening, the weather outlook for Saturday was good. 

They are expected to arrive at the ISS eight hours later, at 09:20 GMT Sunday (2:50pm IST Sunday). 

The mission marks a culmination for SpaceX, setting it up to be NASA's favoured, and so far most reliable, transportation provider as the agency waits on Boeing's Starliner capsule, which has been held up in testing and is not expected to be ready before next year. 

SpaceX has been operating space station re-supplying flights with the cargo version of the Dragon since 2012. 

"For the next 15 months, we will fly seven crew and cargo Dragon missions for NASA," SpaceX head of crewed flights Benji Reed said during a phone call Tuesday. 

"That means that (from December) starting with Crew-1, there will be a continuous presence of SpaceX Dragons in orbit."

The next crewed mission is expected to blast off at the end of March 2021, carrying one European, one Japanese and two American crew members. 


Which is the best TV under Rs. 25,000? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Redmi Note 8 Starts Receiving MIUI 12 Update in India, Users Report
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »