What is SpaceX-NASA’s upcoming CREW1 mission?

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14, 2020. The spacecraft will carry a crew of four people to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 6-month-long mission.

Just before the mission, NASA has also provided its first spacecraft certification by certifying SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule and the Falcon 9 rocket. After this certification, SpaceX will now be able to operate regular flights to the space station.

Background

• NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to develop transportation systems for transferring crew from the US to the ISS in September 2014. As per the NASA website, these space crafts are designed to carry up to 4 astronauts on NASA missions, maintaining a space station crew of seven.
• In May 2020, NASA lifted off SpaceX Demo-2 test flight for the ISS. It became the first crewed flight to launch from US after the conclusion of the space shuttle era in 2011.

About Crew-1 mission

• Crew-1 mission is a part of the Commercial Crew Program of NASA.
• The aim of the mission is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew are easily transported to and from the ISS and enable greater scientific research.
• Crew-1 mission will launch the NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
• The crew-1 will join the members of Expedition 64, which is presently in residence at the ISS.
• Crew-1 will be SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft’s first operational flight on a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS. It is the first of the 3 scheduled flights scheduled in 2020-2021.

What will Crew-1 members do at the ISS?

The Crew-1 team will join the Expedition 64 members and conduct microgravity studies, deliver new science hardware and experiments that they will be carrying with them. The crew is carrying the research with themselves that will include materials to look over food physiology that will be studying the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut micro biome.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020