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SpaceX launches its first crew capsule. Here's what that means

The uncrewed flight to the space station is a key step in NASA's plans to send astronauts into orbit on commercial spacecraft.

IT’S BEEN NEARLY eight years since astronauts blasted into orbit from a U.S. launch pad—but that might be about to change.

Just before 3 a.m. ET on March 2, a rocket carrying SpaceX’s first capsule designed for humans, the Crew Dragon, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. As with previous Falcon 9 flights, the first-stage reusable rocket booster returned to Earth and stuck its landing on a drone ship 10 minutes after liftoff. To be clear, there is no one inside the capsule right now. It’s merely a test launch, called Demo-1 in NASA lingo, and it’s designed to help scientists and engineers find any bugs in the new hardware and test the system’s operations while in orbit.

“This is really a significant achievement in the history of American spaceflight,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a broadcast of the launch.

With the Crew Dragon now winging its way into orbit, we break down what you need to know about this morning’s fiery milestone.

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If there’s no one in the crew capsule, what is it carrying?

Ripley, a sensor-wearing “anthropomorphic test device” named after Sigourney Weaver’s character in Alien, is making the trip to the ISS and will help engineers assess the conditions inside the crew capsule. In addition, the capsule is carrying a plush stuffed Earth that will indicate when the capsule has reached microgravity, a bunch of dead weight meant to simulate on-board crew and cargo, and roughly 400 pounds of actual cargo for the space station, such as extra hardware and supplies, the Planetary Society reports. “Once Ripley comes back home, she is going to give us all the data, and that’s going to get us one step closer to human spaceflight for everyone,” says SpaceX’s Alireza Farjoud.

Where is the Crew Dragon capsule going?

The Crew Dragon will autonomously dock with the ISS so that astronauts on board can unload their supplies and engineers can make sure the onboard software is up to the challenge. Then, on March 8, it will detach and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast carrying Ripley and fresh cargo, including scientific research samples that have been on board the station. SpaceX’s recovery ship, called Go Searcher, will retrieve the craft.

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SpaceX launches new era of spaceflight with company's first crewed mission

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are flying a brand-new spacecraft to the world’s orbiting laboratory.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - Against a backdrop of shifting clouds and patches of welcome blue sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared to life at 3:22 p.m. ET at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), warming the already sweltering, sticky air with blindingly bright rocket fire and sending tremors through the Florida coast. Strapped into a spacecraft atop the 229-foot-tall rocket, veteran astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley soared into the sky, marking a triumphant return to orbit from U.S. shores.

“SpaceX, Dragon, we’re go for launch, let’s light this candle,” Hurley said to SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, just before liftoff.

Behnken and Hurley—occasionally referred to by their colleagues as Dr. Bob and Chunky—are now cruising to the International Space Station, a journey that will take approximately 19 hours. This flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is only the fifth time in history that U.S. astronauts have piloted a brand-new spacecraft into orbit.

For the first time since NASA retired its space shuttles in 2011, the space agency can launch astronauts from its home shores rather than paying for seats aboard Russian spacecraft. Now, NASA will buy seats on Crew Dragon. In the new Commercial Crew model, SpaceX retains ownership and operational control of its spacecraft, meaning anyone with enough cash, at least in theory, could buy a ticket to orbit.

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SpaceX launch kicks off regular commercial flights into orbit

With the Crew-1 mission on its way to the ISS, the U.S. regains the ability to send astronauts on routine missions to space after 9 years.

Just before 7:30 p.m. U.S. eastern time, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered through the nighttime sky over Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station. It churned through the darkness and soared out of view. Twelve minutes later, the Dragon capsule on the rocket’s nose disconnected from its fiery ride and began the 27.5-hour journey to the space station.

“That was one heck of a ride,” mission commander Mike Hopkins said after Dragon reached orbit.

Tonight’s launch marks the first operational trip into orbit for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which NASA certified for flight after a successful test mission carried two astronauts to the ISS in May. Called Crew-1, the mission will keep the astronauts aboard the ISS for six months.

“In May 2021, Crew Dragon will return to Earth by parachuting into the sea off Florida’s coast. This is another historic moment,” Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, said in a press conference ahead of the launch. “We’re launching four astronauts ... to do very real and serious work on behalf of the American people and on behalf of humanity at large.”

The Crew-1 mission was delayed for several weeks after an engine malfunction scrubbed an October Falcon 9 launch attempt carrying a U.S. Space Force GPS satellite. Teams analyzing the problem worked out that clogged ports on the rocket’s engines caused an automatic last-second abort, and the satellite successfully launched earlier this month after the affected engines were replaced. Two engines on the Crew-1 rocket with the same issue were also replaced.

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Now that it’s off the ground, Crew-1 marks a number of firsts: It’s the first long-duration spaceflight to launch from the United States in nine years, and NASA’s first operational human flight after nearly a decade of relying on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry astronauts into orbit. Mission pilot Victor Glover is the first Black astronaut to embark on an extended stay in orbit, and flight engineer Shannon Walker is the first woman to fly to orbit in a commercial spacecraft.

“I expect to be the first of many,” Walker says of her flight. “And I look forward to the day that we don't have to note such events.”

"It is something to be celebrated once we accomplish it,” Glover adds. “I am honored to be in this position.”

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