Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will fly on the Crew Dragon Capsule Demo-2 to the ISS. The crewed test flight was initially planned to be a short term mission, but NASA wants to leave the doors open for an extended mission
Fremont, CA: In the upcoming weeks, NASA will decide whether to extend a crewed test flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS). If the move goes through, it could help alleviate a crew time crunch currently faced by the ISS. Speculations for the same began after SpaceX completed a successful in-flight abort test of the Crew Dragon Capsule on January 19.
SpaceX believes the Demo-2 version of the capsule will be ready for a crewed test flight as early as this spring. However, due to system function tests and other legalities, the trip is likely to take place only during the second quarter of the year. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will fly on the Crew Dragon Capsule Demo-2 to the ISS. The crewed test flight was initially planned to be a short term mission, but NASA wants to leave the doors open for an extended mission.
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After SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the estimated date by when the capsule could be ready for a crewed test flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine addressed the question of whether to have a shorter mission or a more extended mission. If NASA proceeds with the plan of an extended mission, it could lead to further delays in the launch date, as the astronauts would have to be trained for performing ISS functions. "The current plan is to keep Demo-2 a short-duration mission. But extending the mission would ensure NASA can get the maximum amount of capability out of the station. We’ll be able to maintain a larger presence of astronauts on the space station for longer periods of time," said Bridenstine.
Currently, the ISS hosts three astronauts, adequate to perform routine functions. However, scheduled crew rotations and the reduction of Soyuz flights could mean there would be only three people, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin, on the station from April. This could limit the time available for research and restrict any spacewalks to conduct repairs. "It’s always better to have more crew on board for those activities than less," Bridenstine said. "We want to make sure we give us the best chance of success."
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