Featured Image Source: SpaceX
SpaceX is preparing to conduct their first manned mission aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission is called Demo-2, will consist of launching Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket with NASA Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aboard towards a journey to the International Space Station (ISS), flight could take place sometime around May this year. The director of Johnson Space Center, Mark Geyer, said that NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the agency's Chief of Human Spaceflight Doug Loverro, have May 7th as a target date to launch SpaceX's first crewed mission to the orbiting laboratory, he said, "That's the target the two programs have agreed is reasonable, but we're still confirming with Jim and Doug really when we think we're going to launch." It is likely the Crew Dragon mission could launch sometime between April through June this year. SpaceX's first manned flight aboard Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft could take place as soon as May 7th. Meanwhile, the rocket company is doing final preparations on the spacecraft, they shared a shared a video of the craft undergoing testing, stating:
"The Crew Dragon spacecraft that will fly NASA astronauts Astronaut Bob Behnken and Astronaut Doug Hurley to and from the Space Station undergoing electromagnetic interference testing."
The same spacecraft that will be utilized during SpaceX's first crewed mission is currently inside an anechoic chamber, these are sound-absorbing chambers described as the quietest places on Earth, simulate silence and environment found in space. Crew Dragon is inside the chamber undergoing electromagnetic interference testing, a vital process to make sure a spacecraft's electrical systems will work properly in order certify the spacecraft is ready for flight.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft that will fly @NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug to and from the @Space_Station undergoing electromagnetic interference testing pic.twitter.com/qSh8QHfwrn
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 11, 2020