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An aerial view of SpaceX GO Searcher. The private space flight company recently held a rehearsal for landing and loading the patient for the first manned flight of the Crew Dragon next year. The project is part of NASA's commercial crew program. ( NASA Sales Team | Twitter )
SpaceX GO Searcher, a salvage ship with its own heliport and medical treatment center, has successfully completed a test this weekend.
The private space flight company founded and led by Elon Musk has recently completed landing and loading trials on the ship, including how to recover astronauts via a helicopter for transport to a nearby hospital. .
The exercise was prepared for the first authorized orbital mission of the Dragon Crew spacecraft to the International Space Station.
SpaceX GO Searcher unveiled
Here's how a successful flight from the ISS will work: the Dragon Crew capsule will descend from the ISS and land off the coast of Florida. GO Searcher, who is equipped with his own crane, will recover the capsule in the water and bring it to the main deck.
The medical staff on board the ship will evaluate the astronauts and send them to the hospital via a helicopter if necessary. Otherwise, if the astronauts are declared free from the descent, the ship will move to Cape Canaveral in Florida. A team of SpaceX will then accompany the astronauts to the nearest airport and they will return to Houston.
GO Searcher is one of the ocean-going vessels the company has acquired over the years to assist in its space flight efforts. Over the past three months, engineers have upgraded GO researchers as part of the astronauts' operational transportation and recovery mission. Another vessel, the GO Navigator, will also be part of the mission.
SpaceX will donate NASA astronauts to the ISS
The crew dragon is part of NASA's commercial crew program, which aims to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. Since 2011, the United States is hitchhiking in Russian Soyuz programs to send astronauts into space and then bring them home.
The commercial crew program aims to make the return trip to the ISS safe, reliable and cost-effective. NASA is also associated with Boeing as part of this program.
The first Crew Dragon flight is scheduled to take place in January, but no astronaut will be onboard yet. The first manned flight is scheduled for June 2019.
Meanwhile, Boeing's unassembled orbital flight test is scheduled for March 2019.
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