NASA and SpaceX Plan to Carry Out Manned Dragon Crew Flight in May

The SpaceX Dragon Crew capsule will be launched with astronauts on board in the second half of May at the earliest. On this final test flight, the capsule is intended to take two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and return.

The American space agency NASA reports on its site that astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will take place in the Crew Dragon. It will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. NASA and SpaceX are planning a launch date in the second half of May; an exact date is not yet available.

This is the final test flight, which includes a full mission from start to finish. The Crew Dragon capsule will be docked to the ISS and then manned back to Earth. If all goes well, the SpaceX Crew Dragon program will be certified for NASA crewed flights.

The last manned space flight from the United States took place in July 2011. After NASA ended the Space Shuttle program, the organization relied on the Russian Soyuz to transport astronauts to the ISS.

With the announcement, NASA states that it is actively monitoring the situation surrounding the new coronavirus and following the directions of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If there are indications that the virus outbreak is endangering the mission, NASA will provide updates.