#SpaceX #CrewDragon spacecraft could launch as early as March w @NASA astronauts Doug Hurley & Bob Behnken 2 @Space_Station if all goes well w #InFlightAbort Test Jan18 said Kathy Leuders prog manager, #NASA @Commercial_Crew Program after Jan17 #IFA pretest briefing @NASAKennedy
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1218968079398555649
Working date for SpaceX's Demo-2 launch is May 7. Dragon is in good shape.Launch date is fluid and mission may move into late April, or push later into May depending on a number of variables not hardware related. No final decision yet on duration.
https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1226912345571635200Quote Working date for SpaceX's Demo-2 launch is May 7. Dragon is in good shape.Launch date is fluid and mission may move into late April, or push later into May depending on a number of variables not hardware related. No final decision yet on duration.
Lots of moving parts, including when NASA ultimately expects the first SpaceX operational crew mission to take place, and when Boeing's CFT may take place. NASA would like to minimize the time there are just three crew members on ISS.
NASA confirms Crew Dragon almost ready, mostly paperwork left“Even though it sounds mundane, there is a load of paper that has to be verified.”ERIC BERGER - 2/11/2020, 2:15 PMNASA and SpaceX are closing in on the first launch of humans into orbit from US soil since 2011, when the space shuttle made its final flight.Although the space agency has not yet said so publicly, NASA is working toward a May 7 launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station.
"We have some subsystems that are in the vehicle that we think might need to be re-engineered with different kinds of metal, we have a tungsten incompatibility in one of the areas that we want to replace with different kinds of tubing," he said. "It's not major, but it's something that has to be done along the way."NASA and SpaceX are also in final discussions about additional parachute tests to certify that system for flight. It's likely that SpaceX will conduct two additional tests of brand-new parachutes in the coming weeks to satisfy NASA's needs.
NASA would like to minimize the time Cassidy remains the lone US astronaut on board the orbiting laboratory, so there is discussion of extending Hurley and Behnken's mission to six weeks, or even three months. If that happens, then the two astronauts would need some more space-station related training. Specifically, NASA would like Behnken to be capable of conducting a spacewalk if the need arises. Behnken has conducted six spacewalks over two shuttle missions, but the last was in February, 2010. He will need some spacewalk proficiency training if the Dragon mission is extended.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft that will fly @NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug to and from the @Space_Station undergoing electromagnetic interference testing
I'm glad to see a Crew Dragon DM2 capsule video out there to share and show off! Can't wait for the ones from @NASAKennedy as @NASA and @SpaceX bring human spaceflight back to the Florida coast! #LaunchAmerica!
SpaceX employees with Crew Dragon before it departed our Hawthorne factory for the launch site in Florida – one step closer to returning human spaceflight capabilities to the United States!
Crew Dragon in Florida ahead of its flight to and from the @space_station with @NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug onboard!
SpaceX Crew Dragon Arrives for Demo-2 MissionThe SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the first crew launch from American soil since 2011, has arrived at the launch site. NASA and SpaceX are preparing for the agency’s first flight test with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.The SpaceX Crew Dragon will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from historic Launch Complex 39A from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft now will undergo final testing and prelaunch processing in a SpaceX facility on nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.Watch a video of the SpaceX Crew Dragon for Demo-2 as it underwent electromagnetic interference testing in the EMI chamber at the SpaceX factory in Hawthorne prior to its arrival at the launch site in Florida.Author Linda HerridgePosted on February 14, 2020Categories Commercial Crew Program
No pretence from NASA here about who’ll be first with crew:
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for its first crew launch from American soil has arrived at the launch site. NASA and SpaceX are preparing for the company’s first flight test with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
“According to data obtained from the US party, the launch of the first manned spacecraft Crew Dragon is scheduled for 20 May”, the source said.
Next stop @Space_Station! It's getting exciting isn't it?!?
