SpaceX successfully launched its first Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 2 on a five-day mission that has now concluded. This flight, known as Demo-1, is uncrewed. But if all goes well, Crew Dragon will likely carry astronauts to and from the orbiting lab for the first time this summer. Launch Video| Mission Photos | Crew Dragon Tour | Dummy Astronaut Ripley Here's what you need to know about Crew Dragon, Demo-1 and the short-term future of human spaceflight. Latest News What is Crew Dragon? SpaceX's first Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen atop its Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida in February 2019. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX has been developing Crew Dragon under a multibillion-dollar commercial crew contract with NASA. The agency signed a similar deal with Boeing, which is working on a capsule called the CST-100 Starliner. The goal is to return orbital human spaceflight to U.S. soil. American astronauts have been dependent on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get to and from the ISS since July 2011, when NASA retired its space shuttle fleet. A lot of money has flowed from NASA to its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, as a result; seats aboard the three-person Soyuz spacecraft currently sell for around $80 million apiece. Crew Dragon will launch atop SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, a two-stage vehicle that features a reusable first stage. Starliner, which is scheduled to make its uncrewed maiden flight to the ISS sometime in April, will be lofted by United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, which are not reusable. How's it different from Cargo Dragon Crew Dragon is a modified, upgraded version of SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule, which has been flying uncrewed resupply missions to the ISS under a different NASA contract since 2012. Crew Dragon has many astronaut-related features its robotic cousin lacks — for example, seats (seven of them), windows, fancy touch-screen displays, a life-support system and an escape system. The escape system, which is designed to get Crew Dragon out of harm's way in case of a launch emergency, consists of eight SpaceX SuperDraco engines built into the capsule's body. There are other important differences between the two vehicles as well. For instance, Dragon has traditional deployable solar arrays, but Crew Dragon's solar panels cover the spacecraft's trunk and require no action to activate. Both Dragon variants are designed to be reusable, and SpaceX has already reflown several of the cargo craft on ISS missions. But each individual Crew Dragon will not fly multiple ISS missions for NASA, at least not initially, SpaceX representatives have said What will Demo-1 do? Demo-1 will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX is targeting March 2 for the liftoff, though that date is far from set in stone. The mission is designed to test almost all of Crew Dragon's critical equipment, from its automated approach and docking gear to its life-support and re-entry systems. SpaceX personnel will monitor these systems' performance carefully for the duration of the roughly 2-week-long mission, which will end with a parachute-aided splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. But a successful return to Earth won't announce Crew Dragon's readiness to carry crew. SpaceX will also conduct an uncrewed "in-flight abort" test with the capsule in June, to make sure the escape system is working properly. If everything goes well with both of those flights, Demo-2 will be cleared for liftoff. That mission, which could launch as early as July, will take NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS for about a weeklong stay. Operational crew missions to the orbiting lab for NASA would follow the successful completion of Demo-2. Prelude to Starship? If SpaceX's vision holds, Crew Dragon won't fly for too long — and neither will cargo Dragon or the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX is building a new do-it-all spaceflight system, which consists of a 100-passenger spaceship called Starship and a giant rocket called Super Heavy. The reusable duo will carry people to and from Mars, the moon and other distant destinations, Musk has said, and do whatever else SpaceX needs it to, from launching satellites to cleaning up space junk. Starship and Super Heavy will also do some work closer to Earth's surface, ferrying people on superfast point-to-point trips around the globe. Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.<doc-sep>Demonstration Mission 1 All systems are go. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon passenger spacecraft is launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on March 2 — but with only a spacesuit-wearing dummy on board. It will then attempt to autonomously dock with the International Space Station after reaching orbit early Sunday morning. NASA and SpaceX officially decided to proceed with plans yesterday for the first ever test flight, dubbed Demo-1 (or DM-1), of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon passenger spacecraft. Advertisement Advertisement SpaceX’s Crew Dragon went vertical for the first time earlier this year at Cape Canaveral, readying itself for the test launch. Demo-1 was originally planned to take place on January 17. Ready to Launch SpaceX successfully test fired the Falcon 9 rocket that will hopefully launch Crew Dragon to space on January 25. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX could make history by sending astronauts to space from American soil for the first time since the Space Shuttle’s last trip back in 2011. Since then, NASA has been relying on the use of Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon capsule can seat up to seven astronauts. One giant screen takes care of almost all control features of the futuristic spacecraft. Advertisement Advertisement The dummy that will fly on board the Dragon during Demo-1 is outfitted with a number of sensors to collect vital data during launch. “I fully expect we’re going to learn something on this flight,” Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA Human Exploration and Operations, said during a news conference yesterday. “I guarantee that everything will not work exactly right, and that’s cool — that’s exactly what we want to do.” READ MORE: NASA gives SpaceX the okay to launch new passenger spacecraft on uncrewed test flight [The Verge] Advertisement Advertisement More on Crew Dragon: SpaceX Just Test Fired the Rocket That’ll Launch Its Crew Dragon As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent company’s forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s free to join, sign up now!<doc-sep>In anticipation of the launch of the uncrewed SpaceX Crew Dragon test mission, NASA has released the official schedule for events leading up to, during and following liftoff. The detailed schedule serves as confirmation that the March 2 launch date is unlikely to suffer further delays. Launch proceedings will begin tomorrow at 23:00 UTC (18:00 EST) with a flight readiness review briefing at the Kennedy Space Centre. The review will be chaired by NASA associate administrator, William Gerstenmaier and will include representatives from the Commercial Crew Program, International Space Station Program, Astronaut Office, and SpaceX vice president, Hans Koenigsmann. If the SpaceX Falcon 9/Crew Dragon vehicle is cleared for launch, a pre-flight briefing will follow on Thursday, February 28. On launch day (Saturday, March 2), NASA TV coverage will begin at 07:00 UTC (02:00 EST). Liftoff of the SpaceX Demo-1 mission will then follow at 07:48 UTC (02:00 EST). Although confirmed, whether or other anomalies could delay this launch time. Following liftoff, a post-launch briefing is scheduled for 10:00 UTC (05:00 EST). If the launch is successful, the Crew Dragon capsule will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station at 08:30 UTC (03:00 EST) on Sunday, March 3. Docking will be followed by hatch opening coverage and the station crew welcoming ceremony. Just five days after docking with the station, hatch closing coverage will begin at 05:15 UTC (00:15 EST) on Friday, March 8. Undocking will follow at 7:30 UTC (02:30 EST) and deorbit and landing at 12:00 UTC (07:30 EST). The Demo-1 mission will finally conclude with a post-landing briefing. The exact location and time of this briefing are yet to be determined.<doc-sep>SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is nearly ready for liftoff. NASA announced on Wednesday that it has fixed a time for the first test launch of the human-carrying capsule developed by Elon Musk’s firm. These tests will mark the first time a capsule created for human spaceflight by an American private company will visit the International Space Station. The agency is targeting a launch time of 2:48 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, March 2. It will take off on board a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule is expected to reach preliminary orbit around 10 minutes later, docking to the International Space Station on Sunday, March 3, at 5:55 a.m. Eastern time. The capsule will be sent to the station carrying 400 pounds of equipment for space station scientists, before laving on March 8 with research samples. The capsule will start its deorbit burn five hours after, lasting for 10 minutes, before entering the Earth’s atmosphere for 30 minutes before landing in the Atlantic Ocean. The SpaceX Crew Dragon. SpaceX/Twitter See more: Elon Musk Shares Photo of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon With Falcon 9 and Walkway The launch will mark a big moment in spaceflight history, as commercial teams will develop the ability to send people into space. SpaceX has yet to send a person into space, but it’s currently building the Starship capable of transporting up to 100 people into space at once. The ship is intended for missions around the moon with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, as well as the first human flights to Mars. SpaceFund founder Rick Tumlinson, who refers to the Starship as a “Mayflower-class ship,” declared to Inverse that this ability will be “the beginning of the biggest revolution in the history of humanity, if not life itself.” SpaceX has been tasked with helping NASA send people to and from the International Space Station. Since the agency’s shuttle program ended in 2011, that task has been entrusted with Russia’s Soyuz rockets, which take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Seats on a Soyuz rocket cost approximately $81 million each. SpaceX is working alongside Boeing, which is developing the CST-100, to conduct these trips from American soil. Following the first unmanned flight, the company is expected to host an in-flight abort test in June 2019. The second test flight, dubbed Demo-2, could take place as early as the following month. Once that’s complete, it may not be long before SpaceX hosts the first flight of its Mayflower-class ship.<doc-sep>
SpaceX's new astronaut taxi has been cleared for a historic liftoff next weekend. All systems are go for the planned March 2 launch of the Crew Dragon capsule on its first test flight to the International Space Station (ISS), an uncrewed mission known as Demo-1 , NASA and SpaceX officials announced today (Feb. 22). They came to this conclusion after conducting an in-depth appraisal known as a flight readiness review (FRR), which was geared in large part to ensure the safety of the ISS and the three people currently living there. "We need to make sure that [Crew Dragon] can safely go rendezvous and dock with the space station, and undock safely, and not pose a hazard to the International Space Station," Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said during a news conference this afternoon. Related: How to Watch SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-1 Test Flight Live NASA and SpaceX have cleared the first Crew Dragon spacecraft for an uncrewed test launch on March 2 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Image credit: SpaceX) The first Crew Dragon is scheduled to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 2 at 2:48 a.m. EST (0748 GMT). You can watch the launch live here on Space.com when the time comes. SpaceX has backup launch dates available on March 5 and March 8 or 9 if the first attempt is delayed. SpaceX has been developing Crew Dragon since 2014 under a $2.6 billion contract with NASA. The agency signed a similar deal (but worth $4.2 billion) with Boeing, which is building its own capsule called the CST-100 Starliner. The goal is to bring crewed orbital launch back to U.S. soil, a capability the nation lost when NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011. NASA currently depends entirely on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get its astronauts to and from the ISS, at a cost of about $80 million per seat. Crew Dragon is based on SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule, which has been flying resupply missions to the International Space Station since 2012 under a different deal with NASA. There are a number of important differences, however. Most obviously, Crew Dragon has seven seats, a life-support system and a touch-screen console for astronauts to use. The crew capsule also features eight SuperDraco escape engines, which would fly the vehicle out of harm's way during a launch emergency. Crew Dragon docks directly to the ISS, whereas the cargo version is grabbed by the orbiting lab's huge robotic arm. And the crew variant has its solar panels built into its trunk, while cargo Dragon has more traditional deployable solar arrays. Related: Take a Walk Through SpaceX's Crew Dragon Spaceship Demo-1 will test Crew Dragon's many systems from end-to-end, from launch to the capsule's parachute-aided Atlantic Ocean splashdown six days later. Data collection will be aided by a spacesuit-clad, sensor-laden dummy that will fly on the mission, SpaceX representatives said. The FRR revealed a few minor potential issues with various Crew Dragon systems, including its thrusters and parachute, NASA officials said. But such flagging is normal for uncrewed demonstration flights, and the team expects to identify and rectify any problems before Crew Dragon flies astronauts for the first time. "I fully expect we're going to learn something on this flight," Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA Human Exploration and Operations, said during today's news conference. "I guarantee that everything will not work exactly right, and that's cool — that's exactly what we want to do." If all goes well with Demo-1, this same Crew Dragon capsule will then launch on an uncrewed high-altitude abort test, which will press the SuperDracos into service. NASA has said this test is planned for June, though SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently mentioned April as a potential target date. Demo-2, which will carry two NASA astronauts to and from the ISS, is expected to launch in July. Operational, contracted missions will follow. Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is scheduled to fly its first uncrewed test mission to the ISS no earlier than April. "Human spaceflight is basically the core mission of SpaceX, so we are really excited to do this," said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president of Build and Flight Reliability. "There's nothing more important to us than this endeavor."