Crew-1 Mission Brings Space Station Staffing to Seven
By Bob Granath
The upcoming Crew-1 mission not only marks the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the four astronauts aboard will – for the first time — bring the International Space Station’s staffing from six to seven. Launch to the orbiting laboratory is set to take place at 7:49 p.m. EST on Nov. 14, 2020.
The SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2, or Demo-2, flight earlier this year returned the human space flight capability to American soil. Since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, the United States has depended on Russia’s Soyuz to transport astronauts to the space station.
“What’s exciting about this upcoming mission is that we are actually going to fly a certified Crew Dragon,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This is another milestone; a critical milestone in the development of our ability to launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil — now sustainably.”
The successful Demo-2 mission also resulted in SpaceX’s spacecraft being “certified” by NASA for operational flights to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Read more about Demonstration Mission-2
The Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, along with astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. They will become the first crew to fly a full-duration mission to the space station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon — a six-month stay. Additionally, expanding to seven people increases the amount of time available for research and additional opportunities for discoveries.
Once they arrive at the space station, Hopkins, Glover, Walker, and Noguchi will become members of the Expedition 64 crew. They will join NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Russian space agency cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov who launched Oct. 14, 2020 aboard the Soyuz MS-17 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Astronauts of Crew-1
Hopkins is a colonel in the U.S. Space Force. Prior to being transferred to the Space Force in the summer of 2020, he spent more than 28 years in the U.S. Air Force. He earned a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois in 1991 and a masters in the same subject from Stanford University in 1992. Hopkins was selected as an astronaut in 2009. His first spaceflight was as a flight engineer on Expeditions 37 and 38 from September 2013 through March 2014. As commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, Hopkins is responsible for all phases of flight from launch to re-entry.
During a preflight news conference, Hopkins referenced the fact that the Crew-1 astronauts named their spacecraft “Resilience,” highlighting the dedication the teams involved with the mission.
“As you look at the definition of resilience, I know it means functioning well in times of stress or overcoming adverse events, and I think all of us can agree that 2020 certainly has been a challenging year,” he said.
“So the name ‘Resilience’ is really in honor of the SpaceX and NASA teams, and quite frankly, it’s in honor of our families, of our colleagues, of our fellow citizens, of our international partners and our leaders that have all shown that same quality — that same characteristic — through these difficult times,” said Hopkins.
The global Coronavirus pandemic created many additional challenges for NASA in preparing for Crew-1. Most government and contractor employees at NASA centers are working from home and only mission-essential personnel are completing required tasks at agency sites.
A member of the astronaut class of 2013, Glover is a commander in the U.S. Navy and will be making his first trip into space. He is an F/A-18 pilot and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Glover has three masters degrees: flight test engineering from the Air University of the Air Force in 2007, systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2009 and military operational art and science from the Air University in 2010.
“To be able to live on the space station for six months and during that time to be there for the 20th anniversary of human presence on the space station . . . is just special,” said Glover, pilot of the Crew Dragon and second-in-command for the mission.
The crew that began permanent occupancy of the International Space Station was launched to the orbiting outpost 20 years ago — Oct. 31, 2000. The commander of the first expedition was NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd, with Russian space agency cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.
“It’s been a very intense six months’ worth of training, but we are ready, and I am very excited to get back to the space station,” she said. “My experience of having already lived and worked there will give me a huge head start and make me much more efficient.”
Crew-1 mission specialist Walker was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004. She earned a bachelors degree in physics from Rice University in 1987. She returned to Rice receiving a masters in 1992 and the next year earned a doctorate in space physics studying the solar wind’s interaction with the atmosphere of the planet Venus. She launched on her first mission into space in June 2010 onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and logged 163 days aboard the International Space Station.
A veteran of two previous spaceflights, Noguchi is an engineer. He graduated from the University of Tokyo, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1989 and a master’s degree in 1991, both in aeronautical engineering. Noguchi’s first spaceflight was STS-114 in July 2005. His most recent spaceflight was as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station in 2010.
Noguchi spoke of the teamwork exhibited in the crew’s training adding significance to the spacecraft’s name, “Resilience.”
“All of us are contributing to this wonderful team; everybody brings something to the table,” he said. “This diversity definitely brings the team’s resilience.”
The Spacecraft
The SpaceX Crew Dragon is an autonomous spacecraft designed to deliver a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit. The capsule is 27 feet high and 13 feet in diameter. For NASA trips to the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon will carry from four to seven NASA-sponsored crew members and return astronauts with about 6,600 pounds of time-critical scientific research experiments and equipment.
The capsule’s trunk is an integral element of the spacecraft, containing solar panels, heat-removal radiators, and fins to provide aerodynamic stability in the unlikely event of an emergency abort.
The Crew Dragon will be launched by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which the company began flying in 2010. The launch vehicle is 229 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. The first stage has nine engines generating 1,710,000 pounds of thrust. The second stage has one engine with 210,000 pounds of thrust. Propellant for both stages are RP-1, highly refined kerosene, and liquid oxygen. Like the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first stage of the rocket is reusable. The Falcon 9 first stage returns to either a landing pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or a SpaceX ship off shore named, Of Course I Still Love You.
If launched on time, docking will be 8 and 1/2 hours after liftoff. The Crew Dragon capsule will remain docked to the space station during the mission. The Crew-1 astronauts will spend their time aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific studies in areas, such as botany, cancer research and technology.
Plans call for the Crew-1 astronauts to remain in space for about 180 days, returning to Earth around June 2021. Resilience is expected to splash down just off the coast of Florida and will be picked up by a SpaceX recovery vessel. The astronauts then will be transported to shore to board a plane for return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
What are your thoughts about America’s return to launching human spaceflights from American soil? Write a comment on the “Leave a Reply” section below.
© 2020 SpaceAgeChronicle.com All Rights Reserved