Crew Dragon “Endeavor” from SpaceX docked at the International Space Station.
POT
NASA currently plans to return astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft in approximately two weeks, the space agency told CNBC on Friday.
The spacecraft, which the astronauts called Endeavor, is scheduled to descend into the Atlantic Ocean on August 2 at 3 p.m. ET, according to NASA Johnson Space Center public affairs officer Kyle Herring.
Herring noted that the departure time from the International Space Station “is a bit of a moving target,” but said in an email that the spacecraft is scheduled to take off at 8 pm ET on August 1. NASA will take a closer look at weather forecasts of where the spacecraft might fall after astronauts take a spacewalk next week. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also confirmed those dates.
The crash and recovery would mark the conclusion of NASA and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, which successfully launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on May 30. The mission is the first time that Elon Musk’s space company has launched people with its spaceship.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule splashed into the Atlantic Ocean after completing its test flight for NASA.
NASA TV
Since Demo-2 was considered a test flight, the spacecraft carried only two astronauts on board. For Crew-1, which NASA considers SpaceX’s first operational mission, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry four people.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley buttoned up the Crew Dragon capsule for SpaceX Demo-2.
SpaceX
NASA intends to thoroughly review data from the Demo-2 mission before proceeding with Crew-1, a process it hopes will take about six weeks. That would see the Crew-1 launch in mid-September. On Tuesday, the Falcon 9 rocket to be launched by Crew-1 arrived at SpaceX’s processing facility in Florida, to undergo final preparations for the mission.
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