Crew Dragon

NASA agrees to fly astronauts on reused Crew Dragon spacecraft

June 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has agreed to allow its astronauts to fly on reused Crew Dragon spaceships and Falcon 9 boosters beginning as soon as SpaceX’s third launch of a crew to the International Space Station, a mission expected to launch next year.

Astronauts say riding Falcon 9 rocket was “totally different” from the space shuttle

June 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken say SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was a “very pure flying machine” as it sped their Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit, but they said they were surprised by the rougher-than-expected ride on the Falcon 9’s powerful upper stage.

Photos: SpaceX’s first crewed mission launches from pad 39A

June 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

This collection of images from NASA and SpaceX photographers shows the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifting off on top of a Falcon 9 rocket May 30.

NASA anticipates August return for Hurley and Behnken

June 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will likely return to Earth in August to wrap up a test flight to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, a senior space agency official said Tuesday.

SpaceX’s reusable Falcon booster returns to port after crew launch

June 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

Almost exactly three days after taking off a few miles to the north at the Kennedy Space Center on SpaceX’s historic first crew launch, a 15-story-tall Falcon rocket booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast Tuesday aboard a football field-sized drone ship.

Photos: Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon blast off from pad 39A

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft took off Saturday from historic launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first piloted orbital space mission from a U.S. spaceport in nearly a decade.

Making history, astronauts ride commercial capsule to space station

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Crew Dragon spaceship built and owned by SpaceX glided to an automated docking with the International Space Station Sunday, delivering NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the orbiting research complex after a trouble-free 19-hour flight from the Kennedy Space Center.