SpaceX’s subsequent astronaut originate for NASA pushed assist to Oct. 31

From left, Mission Specialist Shannon Walker, Pilot Victor Glover, Crew Dragon Commander Michael Hopkins – all NASA astronauts – and Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) astronaut and Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi are seated in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft in the route of crew instruments interface coaching.

(Image: © NASA/SpaceX)

We will must abet a minute bit longer for SpaceX’s first operational crewed mission to the World Acquire 22 situation Residing to bag off the ground. 

The plot originate date for that flight, is known as Crew-1, has been pushed from Oct. 23 to early Halloween morning (Oct. 31), NASA officials offered Monday (Sept. 28). 

“The contemporary plot date will deconflict the Crew-1 originate and arrival from upcoming Soyuz originate and landing operations. This beyond unprecedented time is desired to make certain that closure of all beginning work, each on the ground and aboard the situation, sooner than the Crew-1 arrival,” NASA officials wrote in an announcement.

Linked: SpaceX’s historical Demo-2 crewed take a look at flight in photos

That Soyuz originate, scheduled for Oct. 14, will send NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov to the orbiting lab. The Soyuz landing, moreover scheduled for subsequent month, will raise NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner assist down to Earth. That trio has been living aboard the situation since April.

Crew-1, meanwhile, will raise NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover and Japanese spaceflyer Soichi Noguchi up to the orbiting lab aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon tablet. If all goes in accordance to the contemporary notion, that tablet will originate atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Acquire 22 situation Center at 2: 40 a.m. EDT (0640 GMT) on Oct. 31.

“SpaceX continues to present growth on preparations of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, and the adjusted date enables the groups beyond unprecedented time for winding up beginning work sooner than originate,” NASA officials wrote in the assertion. 

The lengthen will moreover give situation situation managers more time to investigate the lab’s miniature air leak, and possibly pinpoint its provide, NASA officials added. The leak would no longer pose a risk to situation situation crewmembers, the agency has harassed.

Crew-1 will be the first of no longer lower than six operational missions SpaceX flies to the orbiting lab below a $2.6 billion NASA contract that the company signed in 2014. But it indubitably would possibly perhaps perhaps also no longer be SpaceX’s first crewed flight. That distinction goes to Demo-2, a take a look at mission that carried NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the situation for a two-month cease earlier this yr. (The Crew-1 mission will final six months.)

“NASA is in the final stages of the solutions reports wanted sooner than certification following” Demo-2, agency officials wrote in the the same assertion. NASA and SpaceX will present an update on that route of in the route of a info conference Tuesday morning (Sept. 29), the officials added.

SpaceX is never the exclusively company that holds a NASA crew-carrying deal. Boeing signed a the same contract in 2014, value $4.2 billion. Boeing will fulfill that deal the usage of a tablet called CST-100 Starliner, which is scheduled to cruise an uncrewed take a look at flight to the situation sometime subsequent yr.

This would possibly perhaps be Starliner’s 2nd crack at that mission. Starliner suffered a glitch that steer clear off meetup with the orbiting lab on its first try, which launched in December 2019.

Mike Wall is the author of “Out There” (Substantial Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book in regards to the evaluate for alien lifestyles. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.