Official page of the company SpaceX in the “Twitter” reported that after the completion of thermal vacuum and acoustic tests on the spacecraft Crew Dragon arrived at the Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA). This means that SpaceX is beginning the final preparation of the device for its first test run. It will be unmanned. In the mission Demonstration Mission-1 (DM-1) SpaceX Crew Dragon will be sent to the International space station. The launch is scheduled for next month.
Crew Dragon arrived in Florida this week ahead of its first flight after completing thermal vacuum and acoustic testing at @using NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio. https://t.co/xXJE8TjcTr pic.twitter.com/lr0P95zzIK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 12 Jul 2018
Whether SpaceX and NASA space Agency to avoid delays of the launch issue. Now, when the spacecraft arrived at Cape Canaveral, it will install on the launch vehicle, the Falcon 9, and then will hold a final training and testing. The official launch date will be announced on the results of these inspections.
In the framework of the space mission, DM-1 is planned unmanned launch to the ISS. Crew Dragon will remain docked to the station in a few weeks, then return back to Earth. After that to check security systems and life support SpaceX is going to conduct the test on the scheduled termination of the run Crew Dragon. Again, unmanned. If everything goes smoothly, the company will begin preparations for the first manned mission of the DM-2. At the moment it is scheduled for December of this year. However, third-party experts agree in opinion that manned SpaceX launch, most likely, will not take place this year.
With the closing of the space Shuttle program in 2011, the US has no capacity to send humans into orbit. On the International space station, American astronauts have to fly on Russian spacecraft. The us government this state of Affairs is not satisfied, so space Agency NASA has signed contracts with private companies SpaceX and Boeing to those developed for a manned spacecraft. Both companies have already followed the previously planned schedule. According to the latest forecasts, no vehicle will be ready for a manned test before 2019.
SpaceX is getting closer to the beginning of their manned space launches
Nikolai Khizhnyak