On Sunday, November 15 at 7:27 p.m. EST, 00:27 UTC on November 16, SpaceX and NASA launched Dragon’s first operational crew mission (Crew-1) to the International Space Station (ISS) from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following stage separation, SpaceX landed Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Dragon is expected to autonomously dock with the ISS at approximately 11:00 p.m. EST on Monday, November 16, 04:00 UTC on Tuesday, November 17.
As part of the Commercial Crew Program, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi are flying aboard Dragon on its first six-month operational mission to the ISS.
Following Dragon’s second demonstration mission (Demo-2), NASA certified SpaceX for operational crew missions to and from the space station. Crew-1 is the first of three scheduled Dragon flights over the course of 2020 and 2021.
The return of human spaceflight to the United States with one of the safest, most advanced systems ever built is a turning point for America’s future space exploration, and it lays the groundwork for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
