NASA and SpaceX are now but fortnight from a historic crew launch

NASA and SpaceX are now but fortnight from a historic crew launch

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft may be a smaller amount than fortnight from launching NASA astronauts to the International space station for the first time, but some big obstacles still substitute the way.

With this SpaceX mission, mentioned as Demo-2, veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are set to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 27. The historic launch are getting to be the first crewed launch from the us to orbit since NASA's spacecraft program led to 2011.

But, while this spaceflight milestone is simply round the corner, "there's still work to be done," Phil McAlister, director of the commercial spaceflight division at NASA Headquarters, said today (May 14).


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"We are still finishing some final testing, there are still some documents we've to review," McAlister told members of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Committee, which may be a component of the NASA's Advisory Council. "Even though we're 13 days [away], there's still work to be done."



While the astronauts are set to launch to space in but fortnight and have already entered the quality preflight quarantine, "we are still finishing off some final testing," McAlister said. He didn't specify whether this final testing was additional simulation training with the astronauts or testing with the vehicle itself.

One of the foremost important hurdles yet to beat for this mission is that the last flight readiness review (FRR), which is currently scheduled for May 21.

The review, which is chaired by Doug Loverro, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, will "see if we are ready for flight," McAlister said. The FRR are getting to be "one last time to say whether we are ready for flight," he added.

Before the FRR is completed, however, NASA still also possesses to review some documentation and complete a couple of of program control boards, he added.

Teams at both NASA and SpaceX will continue working with additional precautions to stop any health concerns associated with the coronavirus pandemic. additionally to the standard quarantine for the astronauts, both SpaceX and NASA are getting to be ensuring that only personnel who are under quarantine protocol are getting to be interacting with the crew.

These last steps during the "home stretch" to launch are critical steps and are designed to form sure the safety of the crew and thus the success of the mission, McAlister noted.

While noting the importance of success with final testing and these last few steps, McAlister commended the success of SpaceX's testing leading up to the present launch, citing the company's in-flight abort test and dry dress activity (a "dress rehearsal" during which the astronauts simulate actions like being recovered during a capsule after an abort and splashdown).

"This was a really , very challenging test which i wont to be very, very happy ," McAlister said. "I'm really looking forward to this mission."