On Sunday, Nov. 15 at approximately 7:27 p.m. Boston time, the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company known as SpaceX held a big event at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. This 4-hour event was made in celebration of the launch of Falcon 9’s Dragon spacecraft.
This launch was the first fully operational crewed mission launch for SpaceX by a U.S. commercial spacecraft to be sent to the International Space Station (ISS). This launch has been planned for four years. As a matter of fact, the initial date of this launch was intended to be in November of 2016. But due to certain technical difficulties, the launch had to be postponed. Four years later, and the Dragon spacecraft was ready to be launched.
This launch was the first out of three scheduled spaceflights that will be occurring over the course of the years 2020 and 2021.
The entire reason behind this launch was to test out the safest and most advanced way for future space exploration, possibly even expanding with missions to the moon, mars, and beyond.
There are four members on the Crew Dragon Spacecraft. There are three men, Michael S. Hopkins, Victor J. Glover, and Soichi Noguchi, and one woman, Shannon Walker.
Hopkins, Glover and Walker are NASA astronauts, whereas Noguchi works for JAXA as an astronaut. With Hopkins as the commander, Glover as the pilot, and Walker and Noguchi as the mission specialists, the four members were ready for blast off.
Crew-1 decided to add their own twist onto the name of the Dragon Spacecraft, calling it Resilience. And rightfully so, as their reason behind this decision is because the name itself shines a light on the amount of effort and dedication that all the individuals who are involved with this mission have displayed throughout these uncertain times.
Even Hopkins’ himself stated: “by working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience.”
The Astronauts arrived at the ISS on Monday at approximately 11 p.m., where they performed a series of developmental operations in order for them to arrive at the dock safely. After docking, the crew members will join the NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins, the Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov, and Sergey Kud Sverchkov, who both work at Roscosmos, which was formerly known as the Russian Space Agency.
The final thing that is important to address when coming towards discussing this mission, is that it is important to know how long the crew members will be away from their families and loved ones.
Although the timing for this mention is not accurate, the four astronauts are planning on returning six months later. Once concluding their mission, and making sure that everything is at tiptop shape, the crew members will finally be able to reboard the Resilience, which will then independently undock, and depart the space station, returning our crew members home where they belong where their family and friends will be waiting for them.
Hopkins’ himself stated: “we are ready for the six months of work that is waiting for us on board the International Space Station, and we are ready for the return.”
To learn more about the launch, feel free to either visit NASA or SpaceX websites: https://www.nasa.gov/, https://www.spacex.com/.