SpaceX Demo-2 Mission and What It Meant for SpaceX
August 2, 2020, marked the end of SpaceX's Demo-2 mission, one of the most famous missions done by SpaceX. The Demo-2 Mission started on May 30, 2020, when astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were launched up into space via the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center(KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida. The Demo-2 Mission was a first in many ways including the first commercial rocket to bring a person into space and onto the International Space Station(ISS) as well as it being the first time in 9 years that people have launched from US soil to go to the ISS.
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| Falcon 9 for Crew Demo-2 Launching on May 30, 2020 |
SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. The goal of SpaceX was to commercialize space and make it available for people to buy tickets to fly in space. SpaceX started development on its first rocket, the Falcon 1. Over the years, they improved their rockets and built better models. In 2008, the Falcon 1 was the first private company liquid-propellent rocket to launch into orbit. It was also the first commercial company to send a spacecraft, their Dragon Capsule, to the ISS. Their next goal was to bring people to the ISS, which they did with the use of the Falcon 9 and Dragon Capsule on May 30, 2020.
The reason why SpaceX launched Crew Demo-2 with NASA is because of the Commercial Crew Program. In 2006, NASA announced that SpaceX and Boeing had won the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) that granted them access to send supplies to the ISS. After successful missions sending supplies into space, NASA decided to allow SpaceX to send. After years of development and testing, NASA gave SpaceX the green light to proceed on launch.
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| Crew Dragon Docking on the ISS |
During the mission, SpaceX used multiple technologies to complete the mission. The rocket that SpaceX used in the mission was the Falcon 9. The Falcon 9 is the newest version of the Falcon 1. The first stage of the Falcon 9 is made up of 9 Merlin Engines and has the ability to land on the Autonomous Drone Ships. When the Falcon 9 is about to leave Earth’s atmosphere, it lets go of its last stage and it autonomously lands itself on the droneship. This saves lots of money for the company and stage 1 can be reused. The mission also used the Dragon capsule, the capsule that housed Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on the mission. The capsule is pretty large and is able to house 7 people. It also has 4 pairs of SuperDraco Engines to help with the launch abort system if anything goes wrong. Like stage 1 of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon capsule can be reused in future missions.
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| Falcon 9 Rolling Out to the Launchpad the Night Before the Launch |
Companies like SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are leading the way with the future of space flight and making it possible for people to visit space. These companies are teaming up with NASA to assist in the future of space exploration. For example, SpaceX has already signed contracts with NASA to help assist in the 2024 mission to the Moon. Nonetheless, SpaceX is an innovative company and is one of the leaders in space. For more information on SpaceX, check out my article on this blog called How SpaceX Sent 4 Astronauts to the ISS
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| Astronauts Bob Benkhen (Left) and Doug Hurley (Right) in the Crew Dragon Capsule |
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