SpaceX launch of Crew 1 mission scheduled for November 14; read details

The American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX is gearing up for another historic astronaut launch scheduled for next month. Elon Musk’s private spaceflight company is planning to send four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on November 14. The news was announced by NASA on October 26. The mission is being called Crew-1 and will be the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon astronaut taxi. It will also be the Crew Dragon’s second mission to carry passengers on board. Read on to find more details.

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Space X launch scheduled for November 14

A report on NASA’s official website has stated that the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch will take place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:49 p.m. EST, which is 4:49 pm Pacific Time (PT) and 0049 GMT on November 15. The Space X Crew-1, which was originally slated for August 30, has faced numerous delays. NASA pushed the mission to late September, then to October 23, followed by October 31 as the date. Finally, it has been reslated for mid-November. 

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Who are the astronauts in the SpaceX Crew 1 mission?

According to NASA, riding the Dragon will be NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s astronaut Soichi Noguchi will also be onboard. All the astronauts will spend about six months at the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth. Space enthusiasts might remember that the first Crew Dragon passengers were NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who lifted off to the ISS on May 30, 2020. Both astronauts had spent 62 days at the International Space Station as part of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission.

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Why has the SpaceX launch been delayed so many times?

A report by space.com reveals that the most recent delay of the SpaceX rocket launch was intended to provide "additional time for SpaceX to complete hardware testing and data reviews. The company is evaluating the off-nominal behaviour of Falcon 9 first stage engine gas generators observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch attempt. NASA also revealed that the space transportation company also aborted the launch of a GPS satellite on October 2.

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SpaceX isn't the only company working with NASA for launching astronauts. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is also expected to launch its second uncrewed mission in January 2021. The Starliner rocket launch had failed and the spacecraft did not reach the International Space Station during its debut test flight last year.

Image Source: NASA (Official Twitter)