On Sunday, November 15, SpaceX launched its first operational mission into orbit for NASA carrying four astronauts, namely, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and mission specialist Japanese Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
Then on Monday night, November 16, SpaceX's "resilience" spaceship successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS), marking the beginning of their six-month stay in the space laboratory. The team of astronauts is named Crew-1, which will embark on the longest human spaceflight ever launched from the United States.
This milestone represents a significant opportunity for NASA to boost the amount of research they can perform aboard the ISS and is the start for future flights of private astronauts, Business Insider reported.
SpaceX's Crew Dragon Autonomously Docked Itself on ISS
In an article by The Washington Post, they reported that the Crew Dragon of SpaceX autonomously docked at the International Space Station on Monday night. It was a delicate process of parking from about 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The astronauts need not control the spacecraft while docking as Dragon has been doing it by itself.
"Excellent job. Right down the center," NASA astronaut commander Mike Hopkins exclaimed after the spacecraft successfully docked at the ISS, which occurred at 11:01 PM over Idaho.
Docking the spacecraft may not be as visually striking as the launch, as it is extremely difficult and dangerous n which astronauts train extensively to perfect that task.
Both flight controllers from SpaceX and NASA worked hand in hand with the astronauts onboard the Crew Dragon to prepare for docking, which fortunately went smoothly.
NASA flight director Anthony Vareha wrote on his Twitter account on Monday about his experience of presiding over a ballet in which the dancer is the Crew Dragon that needs to be put gently onto the ISS.
The crew finally floated inside at 1:02 AM in the ISS after two hours of pressurizing an adaptor with air, checking for leaks, and opening all hatches. Aboard the ISS were NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who greeted the four astronauts with open arms.
Hopkins said that his 27-hour experience of flight to the ISS was an amazing ride and that they were all excited when the pod finally lift off. Overall, the journey to ISS went smoothly as the Dragon capsule performed as what NASA and SpaceX hoped.
Read Also: How Did SpaceX Become NASA's Partner in Launching Its Astronauts to Space?
Commercial Boost For ISS
More than a decade ago, NASA launched the Commercial Crew Program that spurred competition among private companies to develop new spaceships that will carry astronauts for NASA missions. The program was roughly $US8 billion for SpaceX to develop Crew Dragon and Boeing to develop its CST-100 Starliner.
Crew-1 is the first out of six trips that NASA has bought from SpaceX while Boeing is set to fly its first mission next year. There are also plans of Tom Cruise flying to the ISS to film a movie, as well as a reality TV show called Space Hero, which is set to launch contestants to space by 2023, according to Business Insider.
For now, the four astronauts aim to power a variety of research in the next six months, like studying how the human body will react to certain foods while in space and the effects of low gravity on the brain. They will also conduct experiments on tissue chips, attempt to grow plants, and test the new spacesuit that will be used in the next lunar mission.
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