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The first flight of the redesigned Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Demo-1, took place around 2am Saturday. (Credit: SpaceX Livestream)
SpaceX's CX Dragon capsule reached space around 2 am Saturday morning. Repeated cheering was heard among the crowds at the Kennedy Space Center launch site as the capsule passed through each leg of the flight.
If the rest of the flight goes well over the next six days and NASA certifies that the capsule is safe, the Elon Musk rocket company could start launching astronauts into orbit this summer. It would be the first time that a private company was launching a human being in orbit.
Saturday's launch was a decisive test flight for human-crew missions, although the only passengers on this trip are a model named Ripley, according to the character of Extraterrestrial movie, and a fluffy stuffed toy brought freely on board during the last hours. There are also about 400 pounds of cargo and equipment aboard the International Space Station. Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, will stop there Sunday, stay there for five days, then leave before disappearing into the Atlantic Ocean on March 8th. The return will be an additional test for the safety of the capsule.
On Saturday, the Falcon 9 rocket that put Crew Dragon in orbit also landed safely on Earth for later use, a key feature that made SpaceX technology more affordable than anything else.
Never. Gets Old. #crewdragon pic.twitter.com/P0WaJJvSYe
– Robin Seemangal (@nova_road) March 2, 2019
This flight is a milestone for NASA and SpaceX. NASA has no more national operator for its astronauts since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. The space agency has since supported on Russian Soyuz capsules to access the 39, ISS. SpaceX and Boeing are in the final stages of trying out the multi-billion dollar capsules that NASA gave them as part of its Commercial Crew program. And NASA hopes to certify that companies will be able to complete crewed missions before the end of the year. This certification is based on the success of today's so-called Demo-1 mission, as well as the SpaceX Demo-2 flight planned for July. On this second trip, NASA astronauts will be on board. Boeing has similar unmanned and crewed test flights scheduled for April and August, respectively.
New dragon
SpaceX has made 16 missions to ISS with its Dragon cargo capsule, but this is the first full flight of the redesigned Crew Dragon capsule, also known as Dragon 2, with seats inside for six crew, systems survival, controls and safety precautions in case of problems during launch or landing. These precautions include additional thrusters in case they need to abandon after launch but before reaching the orbit, and an extra parachute (four instead of the usual three) for landing.
It will also be the first time that the Dragon capsule will dock ISS instead of just being docked. This means that Dragon will connect to the ISS under his own direction and propulsion. Previously, he was content to fly close before being grabbed by a robotic arm under the control of the ISS crew members. The three members currently aboard the ISS will also have the opportunity to enter the space at Dragon's facilities in order to remove the cargo.
Crew Dragon is on his way to the International Space Station! Autonomous docking at @Space station set for early tomorrow morning. Watch live from 3:30 am EST, 8:30 am GMT → https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 2, 2019
NASA and SpaceX will carefully monitor the capsule throughout its mission, and the model, Ripley, will monitor the sensation of theft from inside the capsule.
NASA and SpaceX will air the rest of the flight periodically over the weekend.
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