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NASA and SpaceX said Friday that they are moving forward with plans to send astronauts into space from U.S. soil later this month for the first time in nearly a decade, despite the Covid-19 outbreak.
Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, two former astronauts who participated in the spacecraft program that stopped in 2011, will depart from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 27.
If the mission is successful, the United States will achieve its goal of not needing Russian “Soyuz” missiles to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station.
It is also an important stage in the new economic model of the American Space Agency. NASA has spent billions on contracts with Spice X and Boeing to develop vehicles that will have to make six trips to and from the International Space Station.
This model is supposed to save taxpayers from gaps in previous programs that have yet to be implemented, especially the giant missile from the space launch system that would return NASA to the moon, but it is fraught with cost overruns and delays. at its completion.
NASA President Jim Braidenstein told reporters that the Crew Dragon spacecraft will be the fifth spacecraft in the United States to bring humans into orbit, after the Mercury, Jiminay, Apollo and Spice Shuttle programs. .
“Globally, this will be the ninth time in history that we have placed humans in a completely new spacecraft,” he added.
“We will do it in the midst of the epidemic (Covid-19). I will tell you that this is a top priority mission for the United States of America.”
“NASA” said Behnken and Hurley, who had been training for the “Dimo 2” mission for years, would join the International Space Station and remain there for a period of one to four months, depending on the date of the next mission, as Steve Stitch of the United States Agency explained.
Crowd Dragon can remain in orbit for four months (119 days).
Hurley, who pioneered the spacecraft’s recent mission, admitted that it was “disappointing” that the launch did not take place in public, as people were invited not to gather at Cape Canaveral to see the event.
A victory for “Spice X”
This mission is an important event for SpiceX, founded by Elon Musk, director and founder of Tesla.
His company, created in 2002, avoided “Boeing”, which failed a similar but unmanned mission by its “Star Liner” spacecraft last year and will have to start again.
Receiving billions of dollars from NASA since the late 2000s, SpaceX has been providing supplies and equipment to the International Space Station since 2012 and has established itself as a pioneer in the private space sector thanks to its missile. Falcon 9 reusable.
“I will feel some relief when they are in orbit and I will feel more comfortable when they reach the International Space Station, and obviously I will regain the ability to sleep when they return safely to Earth,” said Gwen Shotwell, the company’s director of operations.
Of course, the epidemic affected the program, but Shotwell said that every precaution had been taken to protect the astronauts.
“We make sure that only key people come to them while putting on masks and gloves. We clean the training facilities twice a day,” he said.
The launch is scheduled for 4:42 pm (20.42 GMT) on May 27 and is scheduled to dock at the International Space Station after approximately 19 hours.
APB
