WHAT’S THE STORY?

FOR the first time since the space shuttle Atlantis made its final flight in July 2011, an American spacecraft carrying American astronauts will be launched from American soil on May 27.

In a truly groundbreaking moment for space exploration, two Nasa astronauts will lift off in the privately-owned SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, with both the rocket and Crew Dragon late returning to the USA for re-usage.

In a final test flight for Nasa, the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket, both the product of the SpaceX corporation founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, will lift off at 9.32pm BST – 4.32pm Eastern Time – from Launch Pad 39A at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the same location that was used for the Apollo and space shuttle missions.

Accelerating to 17,000mph, the Crew Dragon will spend a day catching up with the International Space Station (ISS) before docking for an unspecified time – it can stay in space for at least six months – before making its return journey to Earth, splashing down just off Florida’s Atlantic Coast where the crew will be picked up at sea by SpaceX’s Go Navigator recovery vessel and return to Cape Canaveral.

WHO IS GOING?

TWO experienced astronauts who were both test pilots before joining Nasa will be aboard the Crew Dragon.

Already twice a shuttle pilot, Robert Behnken, 49, will be the joint operations commander for the mission, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the spacecraft is docked to the ISS. He has already completed six spacewalks. Born in St. Anne, Missouri, he has bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University and earned a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Before joining Nasa, Behnken was a flight test engineer with the US Air Force.

Also having been twice into space on a shuttle, Doug Hurley, 53, will be the spacecraft commander for Demo-2, responsible for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. Born in New York State, he was selected as an astronaut in 2000 after serving as a fighter pilot and test pilot in the US Marine Corps. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University in Louisiana and graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland before joining Nasa.

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS MISSION?

GIVEN the code name Demo-2, this is really just a test flight, albeit the second and final one, for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. According to Nasa: “This mission will validate the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities. This also will be the first time Nasa astronauts will test the spacecraft systems in orbit.”

The key moment of the mission will be when Crew Dragon docks with the ISS. According to Nasa, the spacecraft “is designed to do this autonomously, but astronauts aboard the spacecraft and the station will be diligently monitoring approach and docking and can take control of the spacecraft if necessary”. After successfully docking, Behnken and Hurley will be welcomed aboard the station and will become members of the Expedition 63 crew who launched up to the ISS last week. The duo will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew.

If SpaceX passes its tests with the Falcon rocket and Crew Dragon craft, a whole new era of space travel will begin. In effect, Nasa will have its “space taxi” that will enable relatively cheap missions to go to the ISS and beyond.

Elon Musk’s dream of providing a cost-effective way of putting people into space will then be realised.

IS HUMANKIND STILL ON COURSE TO LAND ON THE MOON AGAIN?

THAT’S the plan. Nasa is so confident of success next month that it has already named the crew for the first operational SpaceX mission to follow the Demo-2 launch. That flight would launch Nasa astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Jr., Shannon Walker and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the ISS sometime after Demo-2 completes its mission.

Nasa is planning Project Artemis to go from the ISS to the Moon sometime in 2024. It will have the first woman to land on the Moon, and Nasa will establish a base on the Moon that will serve as the effective launch pad for a mission to Mars.

Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said earlier this month: “For years to come, Artemis will serve as our North Star as we continue to work toward even greater exploration of the Moon, where we will demonstrate key elements needed for the first human mission to Mars.”

AND WHY ARE WE GOING TO MARS WHEN WE CAN’T BEAT A VIRUS ON EARTH?

GOOD question. Maybe somewhere out there someone will find a cure for all the pandemics that might head our way.

Seriously, the mission to Mars will be a quantum leap forward for humankind and will make the “hop” to the Moon look like a 100m sprint compared to the marathon that a Martian journey will be – it’s almost 50 million miles from Earth at the moment and the minimum distance is just under 40 million miles.

Setting off from a Moon base will make a huge difference, hence why so much rests on SpaceX.

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