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Will Spacex be able to meet May as the launch date for the manned mission?
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The two experienced NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are intended for the demo-2 mission as crew. Demo-2 is because it is the second test flight of the spacecraft to the ISS after the unmanned test flight in March 2019.
Animation shows the course of the mission
In anticipation of the test flight, SpaceX now has one Animation of the planned mission published, This shows how the astronauts climb into the Crew Dragon capsule in their chic spacesuits in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Then the Falcon 9 rocket takes off. Docking to the ISS is shown, as is the disconnection maneuver. The return includes entry into the earth’s atmosphere at around 25 times the speed of sound.
Demo-2 is scheduled to start in May 2020. Before that, however, an important function test must be passed in January. This is about the capsule’s rescue system, which the crew should shoot to safety when the missile malfunctions at launch.
Emergency test is still pending
An unmanned spacecraft is said to launch a Falcon 9 rocket in this test. After a flight time of one minute, the eight Super Draco engines for the space capsule are fired to take them out of the danger area.
If the test and the manned Demo-2 mission are successful, the way is clear for the first regular long-term mission to the ISS with astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover.
Boeing ahead of Boeing
The crew dragon spaceship was developed as part of the Commercial Crew Program NASA. In addition to SpaceX, the aircraft and space company Boeing was able to prevail in this competition, which started in 2010.
Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft, also known as the Starliner, completed its first unmanned test flight into Earth’s orbit in December. There was a problem with the internal clock, causing too much fuel to be burned when flying into Earth orbit. The capsule could not reach the ISS, but returned safely to Earth. Because of this setback, it currently looks that SpaceX Boeing should beat in the race for the first manned flight.
(Jcg)
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