When the entire world is suffering from the coronavirus outbreak, NASA and SpaceX are busy to execute the upcoming crewed mission to ISS. In March, both the space entities performed a full-length simulation of the launch event and docking mechanism. In the coming month, Crew Dragon spacecraft will take the astronauts to the International Space Station.
A couple of astronauts from the American space agency, Doug Hurley, and Bob Behnken, participated in the flight simulator. The trainers and other NASA big guns were closely monitoring the development. The administration took all the preventive measures, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize the risk of infection.
The Upcoming Mission in Details
SpaceX is calling the upcoming mission as Demo-2. Demo-2 is quite similar to the uncrewed flight test conducted by the space agency in 2019. However, this is going to be the first instance when NASA astronauts will take part in the mission. The premium rocket of SpaceX, Falcon 9, will take the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.
NASA and SpaceX are putting extensive effort to make the high-risk crewed mission a success. For the past few months, flight control teams from NASA are working from Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. On the other side, the SpaceX team opts to operate from its headquarter located in Hawthorne, California.
The Importance of the Simulation
Michael Hess, the senior administrator from NASA, explained the importance of the simulations. He claimed that such simulation is providing the team with an opportunity to follow the procedures. Besides, it will help in coordinating the mission teams. Such coordination is critical during the real-life mission, especially in the harsh weather condition. If everything goes right, the spacecraft will launch before the end of May.
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