SpaceX says it has successfully completed the last major test between the proven Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the next historic launch of the company’s astronauts.
Right in the chart, Falcon 9 B1061 booster, a C206 orbit-proven C206 capsule and a new Falcon top stage that was launched at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 39A Launch Complex on Friday, April 16, launching the last major step for the second launch of the SpaceX operational astronaut. Captured in detail by NASA and SpaceX photos, the launch was completed without any problems, and the rocket was brought vertically and connected to the launch pad later in the day.
Less than 24 hours later, the fully integrated Falcon 9 was loaded with supercooled liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and finally launched the nine Merlin 1D engines from the first stage – a procedure practically identical to a normal launch flow. Thus, all systems were completely checked and eliminated for the flight, SpaceX and NASA started an “dry clothes rehearsal” on Sunday.
Just as Saturday’s static fire reproduced almost every rocket aspect of the launch, Sunday’s “dry dress” played a similar role to the human elements of the mission – an international group of astronauts and the SpaceX and NASA teams preparing them for flight. . For Crew-2, Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon will carry Japanese astronaut (JAXA) Akihiko Hoshide, European astronaut (ESA) Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur.
Those four astronauts will fly the Falcon 9 Booster B1061, already responsible for launching the operational debut of Crew Dragon in November 2020, making Crew-2 the first time in history that astronauts will fly on a proven and privately proven liquid rocket booster. flying. rocket of any kind.
(Very literally) on top of that, they will also ride in the Crew Dragon capsule, responsible for allowing the first orbital launch of human space in the United States in almost a decade, less than a year ago. Dragon C206 successfully launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on the International Space Station (ISS) in late May 2020 and returned flawlessly to Earth in early August, becoming the first US spaceflight equipped since the July 2011 premature withdrawal. of the spaceship.
This means that Crew-2 will make the Crew Dragon C206 the first manned space capsule in history to launch astronauts several times – a truly historic achievement, but only the latest in a long line of successful Dragon reuses without crew for the past four years. That NASA – a famous space flight agency is at risk not at all willing to allow astronauts to fly on a proven Flight Dragon or Falcon 9 Booster is not at all impressive and was perceived as an extremely unlikely result only a few years ago.
For NASA to allow SpaceX to perform both unmanned missile deeds and reused spaceship missiles on Dragon the third human spaceflight ever it is nothing more than the most resounding approval and validation of the company’s technical expertise that the space agency could ever offer. Thanks in large part to NASA’s flexibility and seemingly unlimited trust in SpaceX, the company has been able to accelerate its plans to launch astronauts to prevent major delays that prevent the other partner of the Commercial Crew Program – Boeing – from disrupting NASA’s presence on the ISS.
Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch Crew-2 no earlier than (NET) 6:11 am EDT (10:11 UTC) on Thursday, April 22nd.
