Trevor Mahleman
On Monday afternoon, a Crew Dragon spaceship was named search Spread in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Now, less than two days later, SpaceX and NASA are preparing another Crew Dragon for launch.
Monday’s landing brings back a crew of four special astronauts 17 day space trip Sponsored by Axiom Space Private. Since the return of the craft, NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stitch said the space agency and SpaceX engineers have been “checking data” on the Dragon’s performance as it returns through the atmosphere.
“It was a very clean ride overall, with no major issues,” Stitch said Tuesday morning during a news conference with reporters. “The team looked at a lot of data, and they had the opportunity to review everything. They looked at the thermal protection system. They see a lot of GNC (guidance, navigation and control) data from flights. The parachute was obviously very clean this flight. All the main lines opened completely, almost simultaneously, with no signs of slackening this time, which is good.”
NASA officials are confident enough in Dragon’s performance to clear a new crew capsule for Crew Dragon, freedom, to launch at 3:52 a.m. ET (07:52 UTC) Wednesday morning from the Kennedy Space Center. This Crew-4 flight will bring Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Bob Hines, mission specialist Jessica Watkins, and all NASA astronauts, as well as ESA mission specialist Samantha Cristoforetti to the station. The weather looked good both at the launch site and at the canceled lowlands.
Five days later freedom With the space station, the four members of the Crew-3 mission launched in November will begin their journey back to Earth. The five-day delivery will ensure the continued presence of NASA astronauts on the space station.
The return of Crew-3 will mark the completion of SpaceX’s sixth human spaceflight in less than two years. “This is really cool, because all of this has been done through the pandemic,” said Jessica Jensen, Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration at SpaceX, Tuesday morning.
SpaceX now has a fleet of four Crew Dragon vehicles: searchDan perseveranceDan DurabilityDan freedom. Company officials say, for now, SpaceX has no intention of building more Crew Dragons. On Monday, the company’s director of the human space program, Benji Reed, said he believes SpaceX can currently support up to six human spaceflights each year. The following is a possible breakdown of the tasks:
- Two flights from NASA to the International Space Station (until Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is operational, after that the number will become one)
- Two special astronaut missions to the International Space Station, supported by Axiom Space or other private companies
- Two free flight missions, such as the Inspiration4 and Polaris flights
Jensen said SpaceX is determined to continue to safely move humans into space despite the rapid transformation. “As busy and busy as everyone is talking, I just want to reiterate that safety remains and always is the top priority,” he said.
–
