SpaceX hopes to launch Crew Dragon with humans for the first time in May.The Japanese space agency (JAXA) has announced that one of its astronauts will fly on the first operational launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, possibly by the end of 2020.California-based SpaceX is expected to launch its first test flight of Crew Dragon with humans on board in May this year, although preparations are being hampered somewhat by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.The test flight known as the Demo-2 mission will launch two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will become the first humans to launch to orbit form U.S. soil since the final flight of the Space Shuttle in July 2011.SpaceX is under contract with NASA to fly multiple missions to the ISS for the foreseeable future.
A trio of astronauts are still cleaning up after last week’s spacewalk outside the International Space Station. (NASA Photo) The first non-American to be added to the crew for a SpaceX Dragon flight to the International Space Station is Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. Walker is an ISS veteran who stayed at the station in 2010. 2 Mamoru Mohri (Japanese: 毛利 衛) born 29 January 1948 Endeavour STS-47, 12.09.1992 - 20.09.1992 Endeavour STS-99, 11.02.2000 - 22.02.2000 2 19 days 04 hours 08 minutes 0 0 Doctor of Science in Chemistry,
During her first mission, she spent her time in orbit serving as a Mission Specialist servicing NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. While Behnken served as Joint Operations Commander for Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 mission, McArthur was back at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA training for her own Crew Dragon mission to the ISS.McArthur was joined by her NASA and international partners Crew-2 crewmates to train at the SpaceX facility utilizing the Crew Dragon simulator. "This mission will be the first in a series of regular, rotational flights to the station following NASA's certification of the new crewed system following completion and validation of SpaceX's test flight with astronauts, known as Demo-2,"The upcoming Demo-2 launch (not to be confused with the first operational mission) will involve just two astronauts: NASA's Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. NASA is eyeing Aug. 30 for another launch of a spacecraft developed by U.S. aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi scheduled to be on board, the head of the U.S. space agency says.
NASA keeps it in the family.