{"id":56902,"date":"2020-05-31T15:21:23","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T15:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/31\/astronauts-arrive-at-space-station-in-spacexs-dragon-capsule\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:34:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:34:42","slug":"astronauts-arrive-at-space-station-in-spacexs-dragon-capsule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/05\/31\/astronauts-arrive-at-space-station-in-spacexs-dragon-capsule\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronauts arrive at space station in SpaceX\u2019s Dragon capsule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. \u2014 SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk\u2019s company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken<\/a> poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The linkup occurred 262 miles (422 kilometers) above the China-Mongolia border. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the capsule was latched securely to the space station, the congratulations flowed from NASA, SpaceX and the astronauts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations on a phenomenal accomplishment and welcome to the International Space Station,\u201d SpaceX Mission Control said from Hawthorne, California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Crew Dragon capsule, lifts off from Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, May 30, 2020. (David J. Phillip\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the orbiting lab in its nearly 20 years. NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBravo on a magnificent moment in spaceflight history,\u201d NASA\u2019s Mission Control radioed to everyone from Houston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy greeted the incoming crew by ringing the ship\u2019s bell aboard the space station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The docking occurred a little early, barely 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Saturday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, the nation\u2019s first astronaut launch<\/a> to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, thousands jammed surrounding beaches, bridges and towns to watch as SpaceX became the world\u2019s first private company to send astronauts into orbit, and ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen in this false color infrared exposure as it is launched on NASA\u2019s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Bill Ingalls\/NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few hours before docking, the Dragon riders reported that the capsule was performing beautifully. Just in case, they slipped back into their pressurized launch suits and helmets for the rendezvous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gleaming white in the sunlight, the Dragon was easily visible from a few miles out, its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light. The capsule loomed ever larger on live NASA TV as it closed the gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurley and Behnken took over the controls \u2014 using high-tech touchscreens \u2014 and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards (meters) out as part of the test flight, before putting it back into automatic for the final approach. Hurley said the capsule handled \u201creally well, very crisp.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The astronauts thanked everyone once the capsule was latched securely to the space station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a real honor to be just a small part of this nine-year endeavor since the last time a United States spaceship has docked with the International Space Station,\u201d Hurley said. He was the pilot of that last spaceship, shuttle Atlantis in July 2011. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NASA
NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Pad 39-A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, May 30, 2020. (John Raoux\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SpaceX and NASA officials had held off on any celebrations until after Sunday morning\u2019s docking \u2014 and possibly not until the two astronauts are back on Earth sometime this summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA has yet to decide how long Hurley and Behnken will spend at the space station, somewhere between one and four months. While they\u2019re there, the Dragon test pilots will join NASA\u2019s Cassidy and two Russian station residents in performing experiments and possibly spacewalks to install fresh station batteries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday, the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon\u2019s sparkling clean insides, quite spacious for a capsule. They said the liftoff was pretty bumpy and dynamic, nothing the simulators could have mimicked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them \u2014 their young sons\u2019 toy, named Tremor \u2014 was also in good shape, Behnken assured viewers. Tremor was going to join Earthy, a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year\u2019s test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission\u2019s end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An old-style capsule splashdown is planned. <\/p>\n\n\n\t