The joint NASA and SpaceX mission will see two US astronauts fly into orbit from American soil for the first time since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. This time around, the astronauts will blast off onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule strapped to its signature Falcon 9 rocket.
The astronauts are Bob Behnken, a two-time space shuttle veteran, and Doug Hurley, who also flew on the shuttle twice.
The mission has been dubbed the NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 flight test and comes after a successful unmanned docking to the ISS last March.
The US space agency said: “NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting no earlier than mid-to-late May for launch.”
The astronauts will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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What is the Commercial Crew Programme?
In a bid to cut costs and return manned spaceflight to US soil, NASA has partnered with SpaceX and Boeing to deliver NASA-certified orbital launch platforms.
Since the space shuttle’s last mission on July 8, 2011, NASA has paid for seats on Russian Soyuz rockets to send astronauts into space.
But with SpaceX and Boeing in the fray, the two aerospace companies are developing launch vehicles that will drastically reduce the cost of manned spaceflight.
SpaceX has already proven its reliability under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS), which is a series of cargo resupply missions to the space station.
Each CRS sees SpaceX launch a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule into space.
A modified version of the cargo Dragon, the Crew Dragon, has been developed to carry humans into space.
NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting no earlier than mid-to-late May
NASA
The reusable vessel will have a crew capacity of up to seven astronauts.
At the same time, Boeing is developing the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
The Starliner will also carry up to seven astronauts at a time.
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Both capsules are being built and tested to pass NASA’s rigorous safety tests.
The space agency said: “NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.
“The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration.
“The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.”
Will you be able to watch the launch on the day?
Once NASA and SpaceX pencil in a specific launch date, you will most likely be able to stream the event online.
It is customary for SpaceX to broadcasts on YouTube all of its rocket launches.
Similarly, NASA will share a stream of the event on YouTube, Ustream and terrestrial television.
You will have to tune in to NASA TV online on the day of the launch or follow Express.co.uk for the latest updates and streams.
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