2.05.2020 08:22
(Act 2.05.2020 08:22)
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SpaceX founder Elon Musk is confident
© APA (AFP)
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Despite the corona pandemic, the US space agency NASA and the space company SpaceX are sticking to their plan to send astronauts from the United States to the International Space Station for the first time in ten years. “We’re going to do this in the midst of the corona virus pandemic,” NASA chief Jim Bridenstine told reporters Friday. The mission was a high priority for the United States.
A SpaceX space capsule of the “Crew Dragon” type is designed to launch the two US astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley. The launch is scheduled for May 27 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Bridenstine advised against coming to the Kennedy Space Center on the occasion of the pandemic. “It makes me sad to say that. I wish we could make something really spectacular out of it.”
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Behnken and Hurley, who have been preparing for the Misison for years, are said to remain on the ISS for one to four months. Since the United States discontinued its space shuttle program in 2011, it had relied on Russia’s Soyuz rockets to transport astronauts to the ISS. NASA therefore commissioned SpaceX and its competitor Boeing to build space ferries for astronauts. SpaceX is a company of the technology pioneer Elon Musk, which also owns the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
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The current mission is a milestone for SpaceX. The company has flown to the ISS a total of 15 times since 2012, but so far the company has only carried out supply flights with its Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
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In March 2019, SpaceX successfully sent its “Crew Dragon” space capsule to the ISS for the first time – but still without a crew. There was only a dummy in the space suit in the capsule.
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