Credits: NASA
Media accreditation now is open for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station – the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket after certification by NASA for regular flights to the space station.
The launch is targeted for no earlier than late-September, following a successful return from the space station and evaluation of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley.
Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker – all of NASA – along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi will launch on the Crew-1 mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Media accreditation deadlines for Crew-1 are as follows:
- International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 10.
- U.S. media must apply by 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24.
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.