NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are tentatively scheduled to return to Earth inside SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon capsule on August 2. It’s the same Crew Dragon vehicle that launched astronauts into space in late May, marking the first time that a privately manufactured spacecraft had brought people into orbit.
For now, NASA plans for the duo, currently aboard the International Space Station, to board the Crew Dragon on August 1. They will then return to Earth sometime the next day, according to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who noted that weather will be a major factor in the return date. The departure will culminate a two-month stay on the ISS for Behnken and Hurley. While in space, they were both very busy, with Behnken taking numerous spacewalks to swap old batteries outside the International Space Station.
The return of the crew to Earth will also be the last major test of the crew Dragon, demonstrating whether the vehicle can safely bring people to the ground. The capsule has a heat shield, designed to protect its passengers from the intense heat generated when the vehicle is submerged in Earth’s atmosphere. The Crew Dragon also has a series of four parachutes that deploy once the capsule is closer to the ground. They are intended to gently lower the vehicle into the Atlantic Ocean, where the spacecraft and its astronauts will be picked up by a special recovery ship SpaceX.
If all goes well, the splash will end the Dragon Crew’s first manned test flight: called the Demonstration Mission 2, or DM-2. The test mission will determine if the Dragon Crew is ready to start flying astronaut crews regularly to and from the ISS. Crew Dragon’s next SpaceX flight is scheduled for mid-to-late September and will take four astronauts to the station. But this return must go well first.
