SpaceX's Dragon is 'fun to ride', says Japanese astronaut who flew three Space Shuttles

Japanese astronaut from NASA’s “Crew-1” mission who flew aboard three kinds of spacecraft, Soichi Noguchi, on November 19 lauded Elon Musk owned SpaceX’s first-ever commercial space shuttle into the International Space Station (ISS) saying that the Dragon capsule was a “fun ride”. Sharing his experience about the lift-off onboard the “Resilience” from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Noguchi said that the journey inside the privately-owned taxi was a lot more fun than NASA's shuttles that he had been on during his previous missions. The astronauts were joined by the flight engineer Kate Rubins for a question and answer round which was live-streamed by NASA. 

Speaking at his first press conference from ISS, astronaut Soichi Noguchi said, ”the Dragon is the best, short answer,” adding, “it really wanted to go to space.” Noguchi said that it was a memorable event as the ride inside the Dragon rocket felt like “you are actually inside a dragon bringing us up to space, so that was quite a feeling.” Meanwhile, Victor Glover, the crew's pilot shared positive feedback, saying, “In a fighter, you can't hold 4 G's for several minutes, not most aircraft. I've been able to feel that for a few seconds. But to have that for an extended period was just truly amazing.” He added, “The whole experience is surreal. I've seen tons of pictures. But when I first looked out the window at the Earth, it's hard to describe. There are no words, it was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime feeling.”

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Commander Mike Hopkins joked that his ride into space was “probably a little rougher than Baby Yoda was used to,” hinting at the Star Wars’ The Mandalorian character, a toy that he carried onboard ISS. “There's energy up here,” said NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. The Crew Dragon carrying the 4 astronauts docked on ISS on November 16, a day after its scheduled launch for November 15 at 7:27 p.m. EST which was postponed due to the onshore winds and unfavourable conditions.

NASA retired from shuttle fleet in 2011

NASA’s Crew-1 mission is the first regular commercial mission to be licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration with privately-owned Crew Dragon astronaut taxi. The SpaceX owned capsule pulled up at ISS after a successful 27-hour automated flight with a linkup that had occurred 262 miles (422 kilometers) above Idaho. The astronauts will remain on ISS until the spring until the second Dragon brings a replacement crew in April. NASA retired from the shuttle fleet in 2011 and turned to Boeing and  SpaceX to transport the manned mission. 

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