SpaceX Launches Second Crew, Station Crew Regular Flights Begin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday (November 15) in the first full taxi flight for NASA by a private company.

The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from the Kennedy Space Center with three Americans and a Japanese, the second crew launched by SpaceX. The Dragon capsule on top, named Resilience by its crew in light of this year’s many challenges, notably COVID-19, was due to arrive at the space station Monday night and remain there until spring.

Outcast by the virus itself, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk was forced to monitor the action from afar. He tweeted that he “most likely” had a moderate case of COVID-19. NASA policy at the Kennedy Space Center requires anyone who tests positive for coronavirus to self-quarantine and remain in isolation.

Sunday’s launch follows just a few months after the test flight of two SpaceX pilots. It begins what NASA hopes will be a long series of crew rotations between the US and the space station, after years of delay. More people means more scientific research in the orbiting laboratory, according to officials.

“This is another historic moment,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Friday. But he noted: “Make no mistake: vigilance is always required on every flight.”

US President-elect Joe Biden hailed the Twitter launch as “a testament to the power of science and what we can achieve by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination,” while President Donald Trump called it ” great”.

The 27 1/2 hour door-to-door flight to the space station should be fully automated, although the crew can take control if necessary.

With COVID-19 still on the rise, NASA continued with the safety precautions in place for the SpaceX crew launch in May. The astronauts went into quarantine with their families in October. All launch personnel wore masks and the number of guests at Kennedy was limited. Even the two astronauts from the first SpaceX crew flight stayed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Vice President Mike Pence, president of the National Space Council, traveled from Washington to witness the launch.

Pence, who attended the launch with his wife Karen, called it a “new era in human space exploration in America.”

The Pences joined Bridenstine and his wife Michelle to watch the launch, clapping as the rocket lifted off.

Outside the gates of the space center, officials anticipated that hundreds of thousands of spectators would get stuck on nearby beaches and towns.

NASA was concerned that a weekend liftoff, coupled with a dramatic night launch, could lead to a super-spreader event. They urged the crowd to wear masks and keep safe distances. Similar pleas for the first SpaceX crew launch on May 30 went unheeded.

RIGHT TRAJECTORY

The capsule successfully separated from the second stage of the rocket and, according to a SpaceX team member speaking over the radio, had achieved a “nominal orbit insertion.”

That means the capsule is currently on the correct path to reach the ISS.

The crew will dock at their destination around 11pm on Monday evening (noon Singapore time, Tuesday).

The three-man, one-woman crew led by Commander Mike Hopkins, an Air Force colonel, named their capsule Resilience in a nod not only to the pandemic, but also to racial injustice and contentious politics.

It is as diverse as space crews, including physicist Shannon Walker, Navy Commander Victor Glover, the first black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, and Japanese Soichi Noguchi, who became the first person. in almost 40 years to launch three types of spacecraft.

READ: SpaceX announces partnership to send four tourists into deep orbit

They headed to the launch pad at Teslas, another Musk company, after exchanging hand highs and hugs with their children and spouses, who huddled in the open car windows. Musk was replaced by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell when saying goodbye to the astronauts.

In addition to its sleek design and high-tech features, the Dragon capsule is quite spacious – it can carry up to seven people. Previous space capsules launched with no more than three. The extra space in the capsule was used for science experiments and supplies.

The four astronauts will join two Russians and an American who flew to the space station last month from Kazakhstan.

The first-stage thruster, which is aimed at an ocean platform several minutes after liftoff, is expected to be recycled by SpaceX for the next crew launch. That is currently scheduled for late March, which would prepare the newly launched astronauts to return to Earth in April. SpaceX would launch another team in late summer or early fall.

SpaceX and NASA wanted the thruster to recover so much that they delayed the launch attempt by a day, to give the floating platform time to reach its position in the Atlantic during the weekend after storm surge.

Boeing, the other crew transporter contracted by NASA, has been around for a year. A replay of last December’s software-ridden test flight without a crew is canceled until early next year, and the first astronaut flight of the Starliner capsule is not expected before summer.

NASA turned to private companies to transport cargo and crew to the space station, after the shuttle fleet retired in 2011. SpaceX qualified for both. With Kennedy back in astronaut launch action, NASA may stop buying seats on Russian Soyuz rockets. The last one cost $ 90 million.

SpaceX First Crew Commander Doug Hurley noted that it’s not just about saving money or easing the training load on crews.

“Bottom line: I think it’s better for us to fly from the United States if we can do it,” he told The Associated Press last week.