SpaceX launches Crew Dragon for the first time

SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The DM-1 mission is the first test flight of the ship, so there are no people on board.

Crew Dragon is one of two manned spacecraft created as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program to stimulate the development of spacecraft by private companies, N + 1 writes . Initially, 36 applicant companies submitted applications for participation, but today only Boeing with the CTS-100 Starliner and SpaceX with the Crew Dragon remained. NASA has signed contracts with Boeing and SpaceX for launches to the ISS. Crew Dragon, depending on the configuration, can deliver a crew of 4 or 7 people into orbit and can spend more than 200 days docked to the ISS.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon lifted off at 10:49 a.m. from Cape Canaveral. There are no people on board the ship, but in one of the four seats, a dummy in a Ripley spacesuit, which carries a lot of sensors, went into orbit. Approximately 10 minutes after the launch of the rocket, the reusable first stage returned to Earth.

The docking of the spacecraft with the ISS is to take place on Sunday at 11 am Moscow time. Normally, the Canadarm2 robotic arm is used for docking at the last stage, but the docking with Crew Dragon must take place in a fully automatic mode, which is why atypical precautions were taken on the ISS. Firstly, a trajectory was chosen that excludes the spacecraft from colliding with the ISS throughout the entire journey, except for the last 40 meters. Second, shortly before docking, astronauts in the US segment will close four hatches connecting the station segments. Thirdly, NASA and Roscosmos agreed to evacuate the crew of the American segment of the station to the Russian segment and the Soyuz MS-11 manned spacecraft in case of an emergency.

After docking with the International Space Station, Crew Dragon will spend almost a week in orbit before returning to Earth. The DM-1 mission will end with the splashdown of the Crew Dragon in the Atlantic Ocean 390 kilometers east of Cape Canaveral on March 8.