SpaceX is readying its historic launch next week of the Crew Dragon capsule and the astronauts making the trip are on site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The launch is scheduled for May 27 launch, with veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley manning the mission.
Behnken is from St. Ann, Missouri. He has a doctorate in engineering, is a flight test engineer, and Colonel in the Air Force. He joined the astronaut corps in 2000, and flew aboard space shuttle Endeavour twice – for the STS-123 and STS-130 missions, during which he performed six spacewalks, for a total of more than 37 hours.
Doug Hurley calls Apalachin, New York, his hometown. He was a test pilot in the Marine Corps before coming to NASA in 2000 to become an astronaut. He achieved the rank of Colonel in the Marine Corps and piloted space shuttle Endeavor for STS-127, and Atlantis for STS-135 – the final space shuttle mission.
NASA’s last crewed flight happened in July 2011. SpaceX will operate the agency’s return to launching from American soil, while Boeing is also contracted for future missions.
A critical flight readiness review on Thursday resulted in permission to proceed with operations ahead of a launch readiness review scheduled for Monday.
The mission, called Demo-2, will take the astronauts to the International Space Station, where they will spend up to four months in orbit.
Last edited by a moderator:
