‘We are go’: NASA astronauts Behnken, Hurley set to make history on SpaceX Crew Dragon
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – When Crew Dragon’s hatch closes Wednesday afternoon, veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will officially be strapped in for one of the most critical launches in recent memory.
With most major readiness reviews and pre-launch checks out of the way, the duo is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A on the first U.S.-hosted crewed mission in nearly a decade. NASA and SpaceX are targeting 4:33 p.m. ET for liftoff.
“Everything is looking good. As of right now, we are ‘go’ for launch,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters Tuesday morning. “Our country has been through a lot. This is a unique moment where all of America can take a moment and look at our country do something stunning again.”
Expected at KSC for the launch: President Trump, Vice President Pence, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, at least half a dozen current and former astronauts, and countless other VIPs. They will be joined by a much smaller press corps and other visitors than had been expected before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Launch coverage:How Elon Musk took SpaceX from an idea to the cusp of making history
Saturday, Sunday are pre-selected backup dates
The latest Space Force-issued forecast shows a 60% chance of favorable conditions for the liftoff, which must happen at 4:33 p.m. or delay to another day due to the mechanics required to reach the International Space Station. Saturday at 3:22 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. are the pre-selected backup dates for the mission known as Crew Dragon Demo-2.
“It is definitely impactful from a personal standpoint and it’s a huge blessing to be working on this program and for NASA,” Kevin Vega, a NASA engineer who works on Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon, told Florida Today of the USA TODAY Network. “My family’s made huge sacrifices for the hours that I’ve spent working on this, so I think they own a piece of this, too.”
During their journey to the ISS, Vega said, the astronauts will have two opportunities to manually pilot Crew Dragon if schedules allow. One will be a “far-field” attempt from the space station, while the second will be much closer – about 720 feet from the ISS.
The manual flying will give Behnken and Hurley a chance to use the touchscreens and take over from the computers, giving them real-world experience outside of simulators they’ve used until this point.
But before the final counts toward liftoff begin, the former shuttle astronauts will begin their day at KSC’s famous Operations and Checkout Building. After a wakeup call at 9 a.m. followed by a breakfast of their choice, they’ll begin donning their SpaceX suits around 12:30 p.m.
The trek to the pad – courtesy of Tesla Model X SUVs – will begin 1 p.m., after which they’ll ride the tower’s elevator up to Crew Dragon’s height at around 215 feet. Then, at T-minus 2 hours and 35 minutes, they’ll cross the 85-foot-long crew access arm and enter the capsule.
If all checks out, teams will close the hatch at T-minus 1 hour 55 minutes. Alone – but still supported by outside teams – in a flight-ready Crew Dragon for the first time, Behnken and Hurley both know they will have the best of the best strapped in next to them.
“Doug is ready for anything all the time. He’s always prepared,” Behnken, an Air Force colonel, said last week of his co-pilot and longtime friend. “When you’re going to fly into space on a test mission, you couldn’t ask for a better person or a better type of individual to be there with you.”
Hurley, meanwhile, said Behnken has “every potential eventuality already thought about five times ahead of almost anybody else.”
“There’s no question I can ask him that he doesn’t already have the best answer to. It’s such an asset to have somebody like that on the crew with you,” the retired Marine Corps colonel said.
Follow reporter Emre Kelly on Twitter: @EmreKelly
Back to school? 1 in 5 teachers are unlikely to return to reopened classrooms this fall, poll says