NASA, SpaceX Set SpaceX Crew-1 Mission Launch with Astronauts From Kennedy Space Center for October 31
By NASA // September 29, 2020
targeting liftoff for 2:40 a.m.
(NASA) – NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 2:40 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 31, for the launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station.
The new target date will deconflict the Crew-1 launch and arrival from upcoming Soyuz launch and landing operations.
This additional time is needed to ensure closure of all open work, both on the ground and aboard the station, ahead of the Crew-1 arrival.
The increased spacing also will provide a good window of opportunity to conduct additional testing to isolate the station atmosphere leak if required.
SpaceX continues to make progress on preparations of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, and the adjusted date allows the teams additional time for completing open work ahead of launch.
Astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will be carried to the station on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch will be the first time an international crew will fly aboard a NASA-certified, commercially-owned and operated American rocket and spacecraft from American soil.
Following the launch, the Crew-1 astronauts are scheduled to arrive at the space station for a six-month science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory.
NASA is in the final stages of the data reviews needed ahead of certification following the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight.
Teams from NASA and SpaceX will provide an update on the process during upcoming media briefings beginning at 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 29, hosted from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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