This morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a capsule made by Elon Musk's SpaceX was launched into space that in the future will be used to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (what the Space Shuttle once did). The capsule is called Crew Dragon and is expected to reach the International Space Station on March 3. There is no astronaut on board, but only a mannequin connected to some sensors that will allow us to understand what conditions a human passenger would be subjected to.
The dummy is similar to the one that SpaceX sat in the Tesla sent into space a year ago. SpaceX explained that the mannequin is called Ripley, in homage to Ellen Ripley, the protagonist of Alien.
The Space Shuttles have not been operational since 2011. Since then, Russian Soyuz have been used to send people into Space. Today's flight is needed by SpaceX to prove that it can be reliable for NASA and therefore receive all the necessary permits (and funding) to bring men into Space. The first flight with humans instead of Ripley could be arranged as early as this year. Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket used to launch the Crew Dragon has landed on a platform in the ocean and can therefore be reused. It's the 35th time that SpaceX has succeeded and by now it's got used to it, but only a few years ago it was considered a big undertaking.
Falcon 9 booster has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship — SpaceX's 35th successful landing of a rocket booster pic.twitter.com/cDvKpoOwrq
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 2, 2019
Crew Dragon is on its way to the International Space Station! Autonomous docking at the @Space_Station set for early tomorrow morning. Watch live starting at 3:30 am EST, 8:30 am UTC → https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 2, 2019
