NASA, SpaceX agree on plans for crew launch ops
2018-08-29
Plans are being finalized with SpaceX for launch day operations at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as they prepare for the company’s first flight test with astronauts onboard.
A key question the program and the company have been assessing is whether the astronauts will climb aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft before—or after—SpaceX fuels the Falcon 9 rocket. NASA has made the decision to move forward with SpaceX’s plan to fuel the rocket after the astronauts are in place. While the agreement makes this plan the baseline for operations, it is contingent upon NASA’s final certification of the operation.
Learn more here.
An artist's rendering of the SpaceX Crew Dragon preparing to dock to the International Space Station.
A key question the program and the company have been assessing is whether the astronauts will climb aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft before—or after—SpaceX fuels the Falcon 9 rocket. NASA has made the decision to move forward with SpaceX’s plan to fuel the rocket after the astronauts are in place. While the agreement makes this plan the baseline for operations, it is contingent upon NASA’s final certification of the operation.
Learn more here.
An artist's rendering of the SpaceX Crew Dragon preparing to dock to the International Space Station.