Current Affairs

Issue

A crew of four astronauts is now en route to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft called Resilience.

Background

Crew-1 is the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS and is also the first of the three such flights scheduled over the course of 2020-21.

Details

• It is the first of six crewed missions that NASA and SpaceX will operate as part of the Commercial Crew Program, whose objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost.

• The programme is a way to reduce the cost of going to space for agencies such as NASA and also makes it possible for any individual to buy a ticket on a commercial rocket.

• In May, NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight lifted off for the ISS, becoming the first crewed flight to launch from American soil since the conclusion of the space shuttle era in 2011.

Significance and objectives of Mission

• The Crew-1 mission marks many firsts for NASA and SpaceX including it being the first flight of the NASA-certified commercial system, the first international crew of four to launch on an American commercial spacecraft.

• The Crew Dragon spacecraft is capable of staying in orbit for a period of 210 days, making it the longest human space mission launched from the US.

• The spacecraft will also deliver over 500 pounds of cargo, science hardware, and experiments to the ISS.

• Some of the research that the crew is carrying with themselves includes materials to investigate food physiology, which will study the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and how those improvements can help crews adapt to spaceflight. 

• Another experiment aboard the Crew Dragon is a student-designed experiment titled, “Genes in Space-7” that aims to understand how spaceflight affects brain function.

• Other experiments include research that will enable scientists to understand the physical interactions on liquid, rocks, and microorganisms, another experiment on the role of microgravity on human health and how microgravity affects heart tissue.

Issue

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying a crew of four people to the International Space Station (ISS) on a six-month-long mission.

Background

 NASA certified SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule and the Falcon 9 rocket, making it the first spacecraft certification provided by the space agency. 

Details

• The integrated spacecraft, rockets, and associated systems will carry up to four astronauts on NASA missions, maintaining a space station crew of seven to maximize time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory.

• The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, whose objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.

• The Crew-1 team will join members of Expedition 64 and conduct microgravity studies and deliver new science hardware and experiments that they will carry with them to space aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

• Some of the research that the crew is carrying with themselves includes materials to investigate food physiology, which will study the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and how those improvements can help crews adapt to spaceflight.

• Another experiment aboard the Crew Dragon is a student-designed experiment titled, “Genes in Space-7” that aims to understand how spaceflight affects brain function.

• Other experiments include research that will enable scientists to understand the physical interactions of liquid, rocks, and microorganisms, experiment on the role of microgravity on human health, and another on how microgravity affects heart tissue.

SpaceX

• Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company.

• It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.

• SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles, the Starlink satellite constellation, the Dragon cargo spacecraft, and flown humans to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon Demo-2.