The launch of SpaceX’s very first manned flight to the ISS with a Crew Dragon capsule and a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for May 30, 2020 at 9:22 p.m. Paris time. According to NASA, all systems are ready for theft.
The launch of SpaceX in summary
- What? SpaceX’s very first manned flight to the International Space Station;
- When? May 30, 2020, at 9:22 p.m. (French time);
- Or ? At the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, then in space;
- What will we see? The takeoff of two American astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, aboard the Crew Dragon capsule thanks to the Falcon 9 rocket;
Where to watch the launch live?
Several channels are available to view the event live. You can follow the launch from SpaceX website or by connecting to flow from the US space agency – NASA is organizing special coverage, since two of its astronauts will be on board the Crew Dragon capsule, at the top of the Falcon 9 rocket. You can launch the videos without leaving this article, thanks to the on-board videos.
These two programs will be hosted in English. If you do not feel like following the shooting in the language of Shakespeare, know that a live will also be offered in France – which testifies in passing to the very special importance of this mission.
The live is organized by YouTube channel Stardust. It will start at 6 p.m., but guests will arrive an hour later. The two presenters will be joined by Marie-Ange Sanguy, the editor-in-chief of Espace & Exploration, and Julia Bergeron, of the English-speaking NASA Spaceflight site, which will be duplex in Florida. Details of the evening are given on the video page.
When does the rocket take off?
After a failed first attempt on May 27, NASA and SpaceX have fallen back on the May 30, 2020. Locally, it will be 3:22 p.m. during takeoff. In a city, it will be 9:22 p.m.. Enough to occupy your Saturday evening to see at least takeoff, the return of the first stage of the SpaceX rocket over the Atlantic Ocean and the first stages of the flight of the capsule, which will take 19 hours to reach the ISS .
There is a last fallback window, if the weather is too bad: it is available on Sunday, May 31, 2020, at 9:00 p.m.
According to a weather report Established on May 29 by the US military, the weather in Florida will not be terrible this weekend. Precipitation is expected, as well as clouds considered problematic, such as cumulonimbus clouds. The estimate is currently 50% unfavorable. To make matters worse, the 2020 tropical storm and cyclone season is underway and promises to be more intense than usual.
All systems are ready for flight, but the big unknown remains the state of the sky at H hour.
All systems go for Crew Dragon’s test flight with @NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug. Teams are keeping an eye on weather. Webcast will go live at ~ 11:00 a.m. EDT → https://t.co/bJFjLCilmc pic.twitter.com/AXDGNfqv0K
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 30, 2020
What is the mission?
This flight must be used to definitively qualify the ability of SpaceX to operate manned flights between Earth and the International Space Station (ISS), in order to give the United States autonomy of access to the outer environment. Since 2011, the US has had the obligation to rely on Russia with the withdrawal of the space shuttle, which naturally upsets Washington.
This flight is therefore doubly historic: on the one hand, it allows the United States to detach from Russia to send personnel into space, after almost ten years of interruption (in 2011, the space shuttle program ceased ). On the other hand, it launches SpaceX in the deep end, making the company a trusted partner to manage the most sensitive mission: to send humans into space.
This first manned flight by SpaceX will be done in reduced numbers, since the capsule will only accommodate two astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, when there is potentially room for seven people. It’s not just a classic crew rotation – it will happen later, with another group – but of a final test after years of preparation.
This remains a great first. Even a small failure (the capsule fails to go into space, for example) would send a terrible signal.
If all goes well, the first crew rotations under the auspices of Nasa and SpaceX can then begin later in the year, dividing up the firing ranges with the Russian spacecraft Soyuz. There is no reason why it should go wrong: SpaceX has been participating since 2012 in supplying the ISS with an uninhabited capsule, giving it precious experience to take it to the next level.
In addition, NASA has carried out the final checks and given the green light. It would be highly unlikely that the space agency would agree to send two of its men into space if it was not certain that the procedures put in place by SpaceX, its personnel and its vehicles (Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule) are at the highest level of requirement.
For several years, NASA has sought to provide access to the ISS to the private sector. In terms of crew rotations, the US space agency is also working with Boeing, which designs its own capsule: the Starliner. NASA is somewhat less interested in the low Earth orbit, where the ISS is located, to focus on more distant objectives, namely the Moon and Mars. And in addition, it costs less.
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