Zoom / SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is ready to launch four astronauts to NASA.
NASA
On Monday afternoon, a Crew Dragon spacecraft called Endeavor crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Now, less than two days later, SpaceX and NASA are preparing another Crew Dragon for launch.
A crew of four private astronauts, whose 17-day space flight was sponsored by private company Axiom Space, returned on Monday. Following the return of the vehicle, NASA’s sales crew program manager Steve Stitch said the space agency and SpaceX engineers were “studying data” on Dragon’s performance during its return to the atmosphere.
“It was a very clean flight overall, with no really serious problems,” Stitch told a news conference on Tuesday. “The team reviewed a lot of the data and had the opportunity to review everything. They looked at the thermal protection system. They looked at a lot of GNC (routing, navigation and control) flight data. Apparently the parachutes were very clean this flight. All the nets unfolded and opened completely, almost in unison, with no signs of falling behind this time, which was great. “
NASA officials were confident enough in Dragon’s performance to clear a new capsule of the Crew Dragon crew, Freedom, for launch at 3:52 a.m. ET (7:52 a.m. UTC) on Wednesday morning from the Kennedy Space Center. This Crew-4 flight will take Commander Kel Lindgren, pilot Bob Hines and mission specialist Jessica Watkins, all NASA astronauts, and European Space Agency mission specialist Samantha Christophoretti to the station. The weather both at the launch site and in the end-of-range areas looks good.
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Five days after Freedom docked with the space station, the four members of the Crew-3 mission, which launched in November, will begin their journey back to Earth. This five-day broadcast will ensure the constant presence of NASA astronauts on the space station.
The return of Crew-3 will mark the completion of SpaceX’s sixth human space flight in less than two years. “It’s really remarkable because it’s all done through the pandemic,” said Jessica Jensen, vice president of customer operations and integration at SpaceX, on Tuesday morning.
SpaceX now has a fleet of four Crew Dragon vehicles: Endeavor, Resilience, Endurance and Freedom. Representatives of the company said that for now SpaceX does not intend to create more Crew Dragons. On Monday, the director of the human space flight company, Benji Reed, said he believed SpaceX could currently support up to six human spaceflights a year. This is probably a breakdown of these missions:
- Two NASA flights to the International Space Station (until the Boeing Starliner vehicle starts operating and then this number will be one)
- Two private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, supported by Axiom Space or other private companies
- Two free-flying missions, such as Inspiration4 and Polaris
Jenson said SpaceX is determined to keep people flying in space safely despite the rapid turnaround. “As exciting as it is and as busy as everyone is talking about, I just want to reiterate that safety is still and always a top priority,” she said.
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