Demo 2 was scheduled to launch on May 27, but due to bad weather, the launch had to be stopped, the weather had deteriorated 17 minutes ahead of time, and this time the weather did not support. Launched May 30, SpaceX’s crew Dragon Spacecraft launched at 3:22 am, the mission’s purpose being to take American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Bacon to the International Space Station (ISS).
Launched successfully for Demo 2, the launch and flight for Demo-2 will be a final test of the spacecraft’s systems, as well as the ability of the crew to orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket landed safely on a floating platform after successfully transporting the astronauts into space. SpaceX has brought two astronauts into space for the first time, before which no astronaut has taken space. This will be the first time a human is entering orbit on a commercial rocket.
The United States has not carried any astronauts into space since 2011, when NASA’s space shuttle program ended (SN: 6/3/11). Since then, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has been the only way for astronauts of any nationality to reach the ISS. After the successful launch of Spacex, NASA will have another option for its upcoming mission.
From the launch, Hurley said that it is an honor for us to be a part of this huge effort to bring the United States back into the launch business. The launch signals a significant transition in the crew’s space travel to NASA, and the governmental space agency to the U.S. Moving from having full control over, a private space flight launches to be just one more customer of the company. This change ended the US Space Agency’s dependence on Russia and focused on more complex missions for upcoming missions, such as manned missions to the Moon and Mars.
