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Astronauts travel in a Tesla vehicle to the launch ship, as seen in this image taken during one of the mission’s tests.
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is about to launch its Crew Dragon space capsule for the first time with astronauts on board.
It is the first mission of NASA, the US space agency, and a private company, and it kicks off the era of commercial space travel.
The event is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:32 p.m. (21:32 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. And if the weather does not match, there is a second date: Saturday, May 30.
The launch has raised so much expectation that it even awaits the presence of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
- How is the Dragon module, the commercial SpaceX spacecraft that successfully docked with the International Space Station
The BBC answers some of the most common questions about this mission.
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SpaceX
Crew Dragon will be the first commercial ship to transport humans into space.
1. Why is a private company launching NASA astronauts into space?
NASA has been planning to outsource crew transport to the International Space Station (ISS) since the early 2000s.
After the space shuttle Columbia crash during its return to Earth in 2003, the space agency focused on developing a replacement spacecraft that could travel to the Moon.
Including private companies in the transfer of crew and merchandise to the EEI was a necessary step in order to finance the program.
In 2014, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX and aerospace giant Boeing turned out NASA contract winners for the transport of crew.
SpaceX will launch first: the Crew Dragon spacecraft will take off next Wednesday on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, located about 300 km north of Miami.
2. What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is an American company that offers commercial and public launch services on its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk founded the company in 2002 with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and make possible the colonization of Mars.
SpaceX was the first private company to return rockets to Earth with propulsion energy so they can be reused instead of thrown away.
You have shipped merchandise to the ISS regularly and will now attempt to start transporting astronauts.
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Spacex
The Crew Dragon will host up to four people during NASA missions to the ISS.
Musk’s company is also developing a larger spacecraft to transport people called Starship that could begin the process of settlement on Mars.
3. Who is Elon Musk?
Born in South Africa, Elon Musk earned more than $ 160 million with the sale of the paid service on-line PayPal to eBay.
His desire to see humanity become a true space civilization was the engine behind the creation of SpaceX.
But he has also been involved in the founding of a variety of companies, such as electric car maker Tesla.
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AFP
The figure of ELon Musk is not without controversy.
He also conceived the project called Hyperloop, a high-speed transport medium that uses capsules that travel through a tube system.
His colorful personality and lifestyle made him the inspiration for Marvel Comics character Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.
Musk is no stranger to controversy: His tweets have led to lawsuits and even led to him having to leave the Tesla presidency, although he remained CEO.
4. Why is launching so important?
Since the withdrawal of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA has been paying Russia tens of millions of dollars to send its astronauts on the Soyuz spacecraft.
The launch of Crew Dragon from Florida is the firstor of humans from US territory in nine years.
It is seen as a crucial step in restoring America’s prestige. in the space race.
It will also be the first time that a private company has put astronauts into orbit.
5. What is the Crew Dragon?
The Crew Dragon is the spacecraft that will transport astronauts to the ISS on Wednesday.
Is a elegant evolution of the Dragon ship It was built to transport merchandise to said remote post.
The Crew Dragon is designed to carry a maximum of seven passengers, but NASA flights will carry four, and the rest of the space will go to supplies.
It is equipped with thrusters that make it possible to maneuver in space and dock with the space station under autonomous control.
Unlike previous spacecraft, the crew cabin includes touchscreen controls instead of physical buttons.
6. Who are the astronauts who will go into space?
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are NASA astronauts.
They were selected in 2000 and each has flown into space twice by shuttle. They are among the most experienced of the astronaut team and they both have training as test pilots, essential to direct the new spacecraft.
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Reuters
Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley arrived in Florida on May 20 to prepare for the launch.
Hurley has spent a total of 28 days and 11 hours in space, while Behnken has accumulated a total of 29 days and 12 hours, including 37 hours of spacewalk.
7. What are Behnken and Hurley going to do?
Ships designed to transport astronauts have to go through a process that ensures they can operate safely.
Launch is essentially the last step of the validation process.
Once in orbit, Behnken and Hurley will test the Crew Dragon’s environmental control system, monitors and controls, and thrusters to maneuver.
They will monitor the autonomous docking system during the approach to the space station and become members of the ISS crew.
At that remote orbiting post, they will continue to test the Crew Dragon in addition to other tasks related to the space station.
When the time comes to return to Earth, the Crew Dragon will parachute them into the Atlantic Ocean.
The capsule and crew will be collected by a ship called Go Navigator.
8. What happens if something goes wrong during launch?
The Crew Dragon has an internal system to abort the operation designed to save the lives of the crew in an emergency.
If there is a problem during the climb, such as stopping a rocket engine, the ship will start engines to propel the capsule with its occupants and dislodge the rocket.
The capsule will fall safely thanks to a parachute.
SpaceX successfully tested this system on January 19.
9. What about those space suits?
The space suits Behnken and Hurley will wear in the capsule look very different from previous designs.
In stark contrast to the thick, pumpkin-colored suits and round helmets of the space shuttle era, SpaceX’s suits are slim, white, and one-piece, with polished 3D-printed helmets.
Each one is tailor-made for astronauts.
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Flight suits are futuristic, but they also have to be practical.
If they look anything like elements of a science fiction movie, it’s probably because their appearance was conceived by a Hollywood costume designer, Jose Fernandez, who has worked in movies Batman, X Men and Thor.
But the suits also have to be practical – they’re designed to keep astronauts alive in the event of cabin depressurization; that is, the absence of air inside the ship.
10. What happens next?
If Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 mission is successful, SpaceX will go ahead with six operational missions to the ISS it has to fulfill under the $ 2.6 billion contract with NASA.
Boeing has a similar $ 4.2 billion agreement to transport crew to the space station in its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
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