The SpaceX company will send two US astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27, in its new capsule Crew Dragon, announced the head of the US Space Agency (NASA) this Friday. It is the first manned flight launched from the United States in almost 10 years.
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“On May 27, @NASA will again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil! With our @SpaceX partners, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will launch to the Space Station on the #CrewDragon spacecraft on a Falcon rocket 9, “Jim Bridenstine, NASA director, said on Twitter.
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BREAKING: On May 27, @POT will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil! With our @SpaceX partners, @Astro_Doug and @AstroBehnken will launch to the @Space_Station on the #CrewDragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Let & # 39; s #LaunchAmerica ???????? pic.twitter.com/RINb3mfRWI
– Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 17, 2020
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The US space agency had relied on Russian aircraft to travel to the International Space Station for almost a decade.
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NASA reported that the mission, Demo-2 call, will take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, marking the first time that a rocket will carry astronauts into Earth orbit from the United States since NASA’s decommissioning program in 2011.
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“They will take off at 4:32 p.m. EDT on May 27 … for an extended stay on the space station … The specific duration of the mission will be determined” shortly, reports the release from the agency.
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This flight will be for SpaceX, the company that runs the billionaire Elon Musk, a validation of their work and their systems, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft and operational capabilities. “This will also be the first time that NASA astronauts will test spacecraft systems in orbit,” the statement said.
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Astronauts Behnken and Hurley were among the first to work and train in the SpaceX spacecraft and were selected for “their extensive experience as test and flight pilots, including various missions on the space shuttle.”
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The International Space Station has continuously hosted astronauts from around the world since 2000. The United States and Russia are the main operators, but since 2011, Russia has been the only country to transport astronauts to that orbital facility.
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