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< a href=" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-nasa-astronauts-douglas-hurley-robert-behnken/" target= ” _ blank” data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=”” > Hurley and Behnken launched from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday afternoon, strapped into a Crew Dragon pill atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
It was the first piloted launch to orbit from U.S. soil in almost nine years, the first flight of a SpaceX rocket carrying astronauts and the very first new crewed spacecraft to fly in area considering that the first shuttle mission 39 years ago.
Both Hurley and Behnken are space shuttle bus veterans, acquainted with the at first rough ride when the orbiter’s powerful solid-propellant boosters were shooting and the shift to a much smoother experience after the boosters were jettisoned and only the ship’s liquid sustained primary engines were running.
The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first stage, including nine Merlin engines, creates 1.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The rocket’s 2nd phase is powered by a single vacuum-rated Merlin engine.
” Shuttle had solid rocket boosters, those burned extremely rough for the very first two-and-a-half minutes,” Hurley said. “The first phase with Falcon 9 … was a much smoother flight.”
He said the shutdown of the very first phase engines, the separation of the very first and 2nd stages and then the ignition of the upper stage’s single engine was similar to the unforgettable launch series portrayed in the film “Apollo 13.”
” So the very first phase engines shut down, and after that it took some time between the booster separating and after that the Merlin vacuum engine beginning,” Hurley stated. “At that point, we go from approximately 3 Gs (3 times the regular force of gravity on the ground) to absolutely no Gs for, I don’t know, a half a 2nd most likely, and then when that Merlin vacuum engine fires, then we begin speeding up once again.
” It got a little rougher with the Merlin vacuum engine, and it’ll be fascinating to talk with the SpaceX folks to discover why it was a little bit rougher flight on 2nd stage than it was for shuttle on those 3 main engines.”
The Crew Dragon is developed to rendezvous and dock with the spaceport station autonomously, with no direct input from the crew. For the very first piloted test battle, Hurley took over manual control two times to verify astronauts can fly the ship on their own if necessary.
A view of the Crew Dragon capsule docked
station as seen by a video camera installed on the laboratory’s solar energy truss. NASA TV There were no issues and when the Crew Dragon docked with the station Sunday morning, Hurley and Behnken were not able to identify the impact.
” One of the things I was most excited about (after launch) was being able to make a telephone call home,” Behnken said. “It’s been a very long time considering that I introduced into orbit, and I’ve got a little young boy who got a chance to see me do that for the very first time in his life. And I just wished to understand what his experience was and share that a bit with him.
” He was able to make the trip back to Houston after watching the docking from down in Florida and was pretty thrilled about the entire thing. That was fantastic for me.”
” The thing that actually stood apart to both of us, and we discussed it as quickly as we docked, is we didn’t feel the docking,” Hurley stated. “It was so smooth.”
Hurley is a previous test pilot and Behnken, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Caltech, is a veteran Air Force flight test engineer. They were picked for the first piloted Crew Dragon flight in part so they might bring those abilities to evaluating the spacecraft prior to it starts operational objectives to the area station in the late-summer timeframe.
” We’re there to assess how it does the mission and so far, it’s done simply definitely amazingly,” Hurley stated. “It’s a spick-and-span car. … It does whatever we require it to do for this mission, so we’re extremely pleased with that part of it.”
Including the operation of the Crew Dragon’s toilet. While he did not supply any details, Hurley said it is “extremely similar to the one we were used to in the space shuttle bus, and it worked extremely well. We had no concerns with it.”
NASA managers have actually not yet chosen for how long Hurley and Behnken will stay in orbit. The Crew Dragon is accredited for up to four months in area, however the crew might be bought home previously depending upon how the area environment impacts the pill’s solar ranges, the weather condition in the Atlantic Ocean splashdown zone and other factors.
Not understanding when they might be coming house is “a little bit unusual,” Behnken said. “I’m attempting to discuss it to my son, just six years old, and from his point of view, he’s simply delighted that we’re going to get a canine when I get home. And so he’s accepting that unpredictability and continuing to send messages to me while I’m on orbit.”
The mission is anticipated to last at least 6 weeks and possibly approximately four months, far longer than their relatively brief shuttle bus flights. Remaining in touch with their wives, both seasoned astronauts, and their 2 children is a top concern for both Hurley and Behnken.
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