NASA Plans A Spooky Trip To Space With SpaceX’s Crew Dragon On Halloween
Image via NASA
NASA is set to send four astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Halloween this year. This flight, scheduled for 31 October 2020, will be the first time the capsule is being used for official launch since its successful piloted test earlier this year.
The mission was initially arranged on 23 October 2020, but it was delayed to give time for a Russian Soyuz launch of a three-person crew to the ISS and return to Earth.
“The new target date will deconflict the Crew-1 launch and arrival from upcoming Soyuz launch and landing operations,” NASA said in a statement. “This additional time is needed to ensure closure of all open work, both on the ground and aboard the station, ahead of the Crew-1 arrival.”
The upcoming mission will send NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, as well as Soichi Noguchi from Japanese space agency JAXA, to the ISS, where they will reside for a period of six months.
Luckily for them, they have already sorted out Halloween costumes for the occasion as they will be wearing their spacesuits.
Once this Dragon docks to the @space_station, there will be two Dragons docked simultaneously. Between crew and cargo missions, there will be at least one Dragon spacecraft attached to the @space_station for the entirety of 2021
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 29, 2020
[via CBS News, cover image via NASA]
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