SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 Tomorrow
Talking Points:
MISSION – SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission is a flight test with crew, prior to certification of systems by NASA for operational missions to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will fly on the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifting off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. The mission, Crew Dragon Demo-2, will take Behnken and Hurley to the International Space Station, where they will dock and stay for several weeks.

PRIVATE COMPANY – The launch also marks the first time a private company — as opposed to the national government — is sending astronauts to space using a commercially developed spacecraft. “A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin,” NASA said in a statement

WEATHER – Weather has become a major concern for the planned launch of two American astronauts Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the first crewed mission from U.S. soil in nine years. The projected liftoff has a 60 percent of violating weather constraints because of a thick cloud cover and the likelihood that their SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would fly through rain, Air Force meteorologists at nearly Patrick Air Force Base said Sunday. The ship was already postponed due to a Tropic Storm Arthur earlier this May.

PANDEMIC CONCERNS – Due to the 2020 Pandemic, No matter what, officials don’t want large groups of travelers gathering in the area, potentially setting off another outbreak. The head of NASA is urging space enthusiasts not to show up to Florida for the launch of SpaceX’s first crewed mission next month.

HISTORIC LAUNCH – The historic launch, slated for May 27, will be broadcast online, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that is where the general public should plan to watch astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken fly into space atop a SpaceX rocket.

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