NASA Astronaut Bob Behnken in SpaceX Spacesuit
Returning flights of US astronauts from US soil
NASA and SpaceX conducted a formal verification of the company’s emergency escape system on Sept. 18, 2019, at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken participated in the exercise to verify the crew can safely and quickly evacuate from the launch pad in the unlikely event of an emergency before liftoff of SpaceX’s first crewed flight test, called Demo-2.
As Boeing and SpaceX begin to make regular flights to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the agency will continue to advance its mission to go beyond low-Earth orbit and establish a human presence on the Moon with the ultimate goal of sending astronauts to Mars.
NASA is months away from setting a new course in Human Space Flight History. The Commercial Crew Program, a partnership between Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and Space X’s Crew Dragon are leading the way for the return to flight of US astronauts from US soil. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is leading the way in these efforts.
The agency has contracted six missions with up to four astronauts, per-mission, for each company. Commercial transportation to and from the space station will maintain a crew of seven astronauts, maximizing time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory. This research is crucial for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, which will allow humans to explore farther into space than ever before.
Image Credit: SpaceX
Image Date: September 18, 2019
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