Image: NASA
The SpaceX Crew Dragon’s first test mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has come to a successful conclusion with a trouble-free, on-schedule splashdown at 8:45 a.m. EST on Friday. The mission netted the Crew Dragon several “firsts” for a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft, including becoming the first to launch from American soil on a mission to the ISS, first to dock at the ISS and the first to dock autonomously. The Crew Dragon was retrieved shortly after splashdown approximately 230 miles off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, by SpaceX’s recovery ship, Go Searcher.
“Today’s successful re-entry and recovery of the Crew Dragon capsule after its first mission to the International Space Station marked another important milestone in the future of human spaceflight,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Our Commercial Crew Program is one step closer to launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil.”
The capsule was launched last Saturday and spent five days at the ISS after autonomously docking on March 3. As previously reported by AVweb, the Crew Dragon was unmanned for this launch. It carried a life-sized mannequin named Ripley, which was fitted with sensors to assess the potential effects of traveling in the spacecraft on human occupants. The data collected on the trip will now be reviewed by NASA and SpaceX in preparation for the capsule’s next mission.
Before its first manned launch, the Crew Dragon will undergo an in-flight abort test mission. If that goes well, the first crewed mission is tentatively planned for July 2019 with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley onboard. If the manned mission is a success, NASA will certify the Crew Dragon for routine operational missions.
