On May 21, 2020, inside the Operations Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders participates in the Flight Readiness Review for the upcoming Demo-2 launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim ShiflettNASA and SpaceX managers take part in the Flight Readiness Review. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Today the SpaceX, commercial crew and space station communities held thorough discussions about requirements for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 flight test, but still have a few topics remaining for discussion during the Flight Readiness Review and will continue those on Friday. Agency and SpaceX managers gathered at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to focus on the readiness of the Crew Dragon and systems for the Demo-2 mission; the readiness of the International Space Station Program and its international partners to support the flight; and the certification of flight readiness.
Approximately one hour after the review ends Friday, the agency will hold a news conference on NASA Television and online at http://www.nasa.gov/live.
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will participate in a virtual media engagement at 2:15 p.m. Friday from Astronaut Crew Quarters at Kennedy, answering questions about their upcoming launch.
SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Behnken and Hurley to the International Space Station aboard the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Liftoff is planned for 4:33 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the flight will return human spaceflight capability to America for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.
The crew access arm swings into position for the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Demo-2 mission, Thursday, May 21, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Bill IngallsA SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on the agency’s upcoming SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station is in position for liftoff at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A.
SpaceX’s transporter-erector vehicle carried the rocket, topped by the Crew Dragon spacecraft, from a nearby SpaceX processing hangar to the launch pad, arriving early Thursday morning. The rocket was then raised to vertical.
Liftoff is slated for May 27 at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
Demo-2 will serve as an end-to-end test of SpaceX’s crew transportation system, paving the way for NASA to certify the system for regular, crewed flights to the orbiting laboratory as a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission will be the first crewed flight to launch from U.S. soil since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.
On May 21, 2020, inside the Operations Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA and SpaceX managers participate in a flight readiness review for the upcoming Demo-2 launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA and SpaceX managers are gathered at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, with some participating remotely to maintain physical distance, for the Demo-2 Flight Readiness Review (FRR). SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff is planned for 4:33 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the flight will return human spaceflight to the International Space Station from America for the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.
Steve Jurczyk, NASA Associate Administrator, is leading the review. The senior SpaceX official in person at the review is Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for Build and Flight Reliability.
During the review, NASA and SpaceX personnel will hear presentations from key leaders such as Kathy Lueders, manager for the Commercial Crew Program at NASA, Kirk Shireman, manager for the International Space Station Program at NASA, Joe Petrzelka, the Senior Director of Dragon Engineering at SpaceX, Bala Ramamurthy, the Demo-2 Launch Chief Engineer at SpaceX, and Benji Reed, Director of Crew Mission Management at SpaceX, among others. The review will focus on the readiness of SpaceX’s crew transportation system; the readiness of the station program and its international partners to support the flight; and the certification of flight readiness.
Demo-2 will be SpaceX’s final test flight to validate its crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon, Falcon 9, launch pad and operations capabilities. During the mission, the crew and SpaceX mission controllers will verify the performance of the spacecraft’s environmental control system, displays and control system, maneuvering thrusters, autonomous docking capability, and more. Behnken and Hurley will join the Expedition 63 crew on the station to conduct important research as well as support station operations and maintenance. While docked to the station, the crew will run tests to ensure the Crew Dragon spacecraft is capable on future missions of remaining connected to the station for up to 210 days. The specific duration for this mission will be determined after arrival based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch. Finally, the mission will conclude with the Crew Dragon undocking from the station, deorbiting and returning Behnken and Hurley to Earth with a safe splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
The FRR is targeted to be completed today, but officials have set aside additional time tomorrow, if needed. Approximately one hour after the review ends, the agency will hold a news conference on NASA Television and online at http://www.nasa.gov/live.
From left, Demo-2 crew members Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley pose for a photo after speaking to members of the media on May 20, 2020, at the Launch and Landing Facility runway following the crew’s arrival to the Florida spaceport. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The Demo-2 flight crew has reported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to start final preparations for liftoff. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley arrived at the Launch and Landing Facility runway after departing earlier today from Ellington Field near the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. They’re slated to lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carried by a Falcon 9 rocket – the first launch of American astronauts from American soil to the International Space Station in nearly a decade.
Demo-2 crew members Robert Behnken (far left) and Douglas Hurley are greeted by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (far right) Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana at the Launch and Landing Facility runway. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The Demo-2 mission will test the SpaceX crew transportation system from launch to docking to splashdown, paving the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Upon stepping out of the aircraft, Behnken explained how excited he and Hurley are to be the first to fly on the Crew Dragon.
“We’re thankful for that opportunity,” Behnken said. “We view it as an opportunity, but also, a responsibility – for the American people, for the SpaceX team, for all of NASA – who put this opportunity together and entrusted us with it.”
“I happen to have been one of the four astronauts who landed here almost nine years ago in T-38s on the 4th of July in 2011 to close out the Space Shuttle Program. It’s incredibly humbling to be here to start out the next [crewed] launch from the United States,” Hurley said. “I also want to thank the incredible men and women of SpaceX that have put so many thousands of hours of work into this rocket and spacecraft. We’re looking forward to getting up close and personal with Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon in just a few days.”
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Center Director Bob Cabana greeted Behnken and Hurley as they stepped off the NASA Gulfstream aircraft at the runway’s parking apron.
“This will be the fifth time in American history when we have launched American astronauts on a brand-new vehicle. We did it in Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, we did it with the space shuttles, and now we’re going to do it with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule; and it’s these gentlemen that are going to have the opportunity to pioneer once more for the United States of America,” Bridenstine said. Turning to the crew, he added, “You’re the best that America has to offer.”
Cabana recalled the last time astronauts arrived to prepare for launch from Kennedy – the STS-135 crew, including Hurley, who piloted space shuttle Atlantis on the program’s final flight.
“It’s been almost nine years since July 4, 2011. That’s the last time a crew flew into the landing facility on their way to space,” Cabana said. “I can’t tell you how great it is to welcome Bob and Doug here for this historic mission.”
Tomorrow, NASA and SpaceX managers will conduct a flight readiness review at Kennedy to determine whether the Crew Dragon and its systems are ready for the mission. A news conference will follow at approximately 6 p.m., or one hour after the review concludes. Watch it live on NASA Television or on the web at https://www.nasa.gov/live.
At Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, astronauts Douglas Hurley (left) and Robert Behnken pose for a photo before boarding the Gulfstream jet that will carry them to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20, 2020, in preparation for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Photo credit: NASA/James BlairAstronauts Robert Behnken (left) and Douglas Hurley board the Gulfstream jet for the flight to Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA/James Blair
The NASA astronauts who will become the first Americans to launch to the International Space Station from American soil in nearly a decade are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Demo-2 crew members Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are expected to arrive at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at the spaceport today around 4 p.m. EDT.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Center Director Bob Cabana will be at the runway to welcome the astronauts. A media Q&A will follow at the runway. These events will be broadcast live on NASA Television and online at www.nasa.gov/live.
Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft is targeted for Wednesday, May 27, at 4:33 p.m. EDT from Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A. The Demo-2 mission will serve as an end-to-end flight test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, paving the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken stand near Launch Pad 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17, 2020. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are set to arrive at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, one week before the pair’s scheduled launch to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Demo-2 mission.
Tomorrow’s schedule calls for the astronauts to depart from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and fly to Kennedy aboard an agency Gulfstream aircraft. They’re expected to arrive at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy at approximately 4 p.m. EDT. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Center Director Bob Cabana will greet the crew, followed by a news conference at the runway. These events will be broadcast live on NASA Television and online at www.nasa.gov/live.
Behnken and Hurley will fly to the station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A. The Demo-2 mission will serve as an end-to-end flight test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, from launch to docking to splashdown. It is the final flight test for the system to be certified for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff is slated for Wednesday, May 27 at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrives at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, transported from the company’s processing facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, May 15, 2020, in preparation for the Demo-2 flight test. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The pace of prelaunch activities continues to pick up at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as teams prepare for the upcoming launch of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission — the first launch of astronauts from America’s premier multi-user spaceport in nearly a decade.
On the Demo-2 flight test, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will fly to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
Late Friday night, May 15, the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft arrived at Launch Complex 39A after making the trek from its processing facility at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
This Wednesday, Behnken and Hurley will fly from their home base at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to the Florida spaceport. The agency Flight Readiness Review begins at Kennedy the following day.
Demo-2 will serve as an end-to-end flight test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, and is the final flight test for the system to be certified for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This will be the first launch of American astronauts on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station since the final flight of the space shuttle in 2011.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarize themselves with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will transport them to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley entered quarantine Wednesday, May 13, in preparation for their upcoming flight to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. They’ll lift off aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carried by the company’s Falcon 9 rocket two weeks later at 4:33 pm Eastern Wednesday, May 27, from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, people all over the world recently have experienced varying degrees of quarantine – a period of isolation from others to prevent the spread of contagious illness. However, for crews getting ready to launch, “flight crew health stabilization” is a routine part of the final weeks before liftoff for all missions to the space station.
Behnken and Hurley will be the first American astronauts to fly to the station aboard an American spacecraft launched from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. The Demo-2 flight is an end-to-end test of SpaceX’s crew transportation system, part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. They’ll meet up with the Expedition 63 crew already in residence aboard the orbiting laboratory: NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.
Spending the final two weeks before liftoff in quarantine helps ensure the Demo-2 crew arrives healthy, protecting themselves and their colleagues already on the station.
Since Hurley and Behnken are training side by side and will be working and living as a team on the space station with their crewmates, they’re unable to maintain a six-foot distance. NASA’s quarantine rules are designed to protect astronaut crews while allowing them to continue working closely together, by limiting who can be in close proximity to them and ensuring they stay in environments in which their exposure to contagions or other hazardous materials can be tightly controlled in advance of their launch.
If they are able to maintain quarantine conditions at home, crew members can choose to quarantine from there until they travel to Kennedy Space Center. If for some reason they aren’t able to maintain quarantine conditions at home – for instance, if a family member living with them isn’t able to maintain quarantine because of their job or school requirements – they have the option of living in the Astronaut Quarantine Facility at Johnson Space Center until they leave for Kennedy Space Center.
Some additional safeguards have been added because of the coronavirus. For example, anyone who will come on site or interact with the crew during the quarantine period, as well as any VIPs, will be screened for temperature and symptoms. Hurley and Behnken, as well as those in direct, close contact with the crew will be tested twice for the virus as a precaution.
Health stabilization procedures were introduced for the Apollo program, in which NASA astronauts left low-Earth orbit to journey to the Moon, and have continued through the shuttle and International Space Station programs.
Behnken and Hurley will remain in quarantine after their arrival at Kennedy on May 20. Liftoff from Kennedy’s historic Launch Pad 39A is targeted for May 27 at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarize themselves with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will transport them to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: SpaceXHurley, foreground, and Behnken participate in a full simulation of launch and docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in SpaceX’s flight simulator, March 19 and 20, 2020. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX have worked side-by-side, including through detailed simulations with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley who will first fly on Crew Dragon, to develop and assess the spacecraft’s control system and the spacesuit the crew will wear during the NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
SpaceX released a docking simulator Behnken and Hurley have used during training for the return of human spaceflight to the U.S. soil to the space station.
Crew Dragon’s system includes touch screens and physical manual control options with robust fault tolerance built into the system. The touch screens have been tuned to operate with and without the SpaceX spacesuit gloves to high reliability. The control system has been thoroughly tested during the hundreds of hours of training and joint simulations with the crew in both suited and non-suited situations to demonstrate full functionality over the entire expected operating range of Crew Dragon. While the spacecraft will autonomously dock and undock with the space station, the crew onboard can take manual control if necessary.
The spacesuit is custom-made for each passenger aboard Crew Dragon and is designed to be functional, lightweight, and to offer protection from potential depressurization. A single connection point on the suit’s thigh attaches life support systems, including air and power connections. The helmet is custom manufactured using 3D printing technology and includes integrated valves, mechanisms for visor retraction and locking, and microphones within the helmet’s structure. The custom-tailored suits include touchscreen compatible gloves, a flame-resistant outer layer and provides pressurization with a controlled environment for the crew in atypical situations, such as cabin depressurization. The suit also routes communications and cooling systems to the astronauts during flight.
In this image from October 2018, the fully completed station continues its mission to conduct microgravity research and experiments — ranging from human physiology to astronomy aboard humanity’s only orbital laboratory. Photo credit: NASA
When NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission takes flight, it will usher in a new era in human spaceflight. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will fly to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, launching atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. Not only will the mission renew American capability to launch astronauts from U.S. soil, it also will expand the number of crew members on board the station – and, in turn, increase the opportunities to conduct science investigations in the unique environment of low-Earth orbit.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with partners SpaceX and Boeing to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the space station and other destinations in low-Earth orbit. Commercial transportation to and from the station will provide expanded utility, additional research time and broader opportunities for discovery on the orbiting laboratory.
“That’s what Commercial Crew is all about. This is a new generation, a new era in human spaceflight,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a briefing May 1. “NASA has the ability to be a customer – one customer of many customers – in a very robust commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit. We also want to have numerous providers competing against each other on constant innovation.”
Partnerships have always played an important role in NASA’s achievements. Throughout its history, the agency has worked with industry and academia to explore and utilize the space frontier. Contractors built rockets, satellites and spacecraft. Colleges and universities have worked with NASA scientists and engineers to develop technology to support investigations leading to discoveries.
As the 30-year Space Shuttle Program drew to a close, NASA again began plans to reach beyond low-Earth orbit. To allow a focus on exploration to the Moon and Mars, NASA has entered into partnerships with industry opening a variety of new opportunities.
A little more than two years after the final shuttle flight, SpaceX’s Dragon and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft began successfully launching atop their company’s Falcon 9 and Antares rockets to resupply the International Space Station. The companies developed the rockets and spacecraft through public-private partnerships under the agency’s commercial resupply services contracts.
“Commercialization is a big effort on board the International Space Station,” said Kirk Shireman, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program. “We’re working with commercial partners developing facilities, testing modules; today, we already transport cargo commercially, and very soon, of course, we look forward to transporting our crews commercially. This really is the next major step in commercializing low-Earth orbit and having a really viable low-Earth orbit economy in which NASA is one of many customers.”
The agency has also adopted a five-part plan to enable a thriving economy in low-Earth orbit, including adopting new policies that allow some commercial and marketing activities to take plan on the space station, creating the opportunity for future private astronaut missions, supporting the development of new commercial destinations, and pursuing activities that foster new and emerging markets.
During the past nearly 20 years of continuous human presence on board the orbiting laboratory, Shireman said, resident crews have conducted more than 2,900 scientific investigations for more than 4,000 researchers together with partners in 108 countries and areas across the globe. NASA and its commercial and international partners are eager to expand the opportunities for human spaceflight and additional science.
“We are closer than ever to bringing human spaceflight capabilities back to the United States for the first time since 2011, since the Space Shuttle retired,” said Benji Reed, SpaceX’s director of crew mission management. “The criticality of this is not just that capability but to help the space station stay fully operational – to help not only our space program but the programs of many countries around the world.”
