Thefirst commercial spacecraftto carry astronauts to orbit , SpaceX ’s Crew Dragon , successfully tail with the International Space Station ( ISS ) on May 31 , after a 19 - hour tripper from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida , and the astronauts are now safely onboard . The event marks the first time in nine years since a roquette set in motion from American soil , and the first astronauts ever delivered to the ISS via a secret spacecraft .
The two astronauts , Robert " Bob " Behnken and Doug Hurley , are both warhorse of the Space Shuttle mission , the Space Shuttle Atlantis being the last crew mission to leave US soil in July 2011 . They join ISS Commander Christopher Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner as member of Expeditions 63 .
" It ’s been a real laurels to be just a small part of this nine - twelvemonth twelvemonth endeavor since the last time United States spaceship has tail with the International Space Station , " Doug Hurley , commander of the Dragon condensation , said .
in front of docking , they took watcher on atour of the capsule , beforerevealing – as is tradition for astronauts to name their capsule – its new name is Endeavor , after the Space Shuttle they both had their first flights on .
" I eff most of you , at SpaceX especially , roll in the hay it as ' Capsule 206 , ' but I retrieve all of us retrieve that possibly we could do a little bit better than that , " Hurleysaid . " So without further ado , we would like to receive you aboard capsule ' enterprise . ' "
After climbing through the hatching onto the ISS the cosmonaut took their despatch photo and serve inquiry from NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine about the flight , whether they slumber ( a honest 7 hour seemingly ) , and how it fly .
“ Dragon ’s a slick fomite , ” Behnken said .
“ We could n’t be happier about the performance , ” Hurley added .
The three astronauts currently in outer space will hold a news conference at 11.15 am EDT today hash out how the initial and vital phase of this mission unfolded , which you could watch onNASA TVand on the place way societal channels .
you’re able to follow the sensational historic footage of the launching , the spaceman ' flight , and their comer at the ISS here .
The two new ISS members are expected to be in spacefor a few months , perhaps until the end of August when four more astronaut are expect to launch to the ISS . Those four will also jaunt on a Space X Crew Dragon . Space X is part of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , break projectile and capsule to concentrate costs accessing low - Earth Orbit . Boeing is the other private company ask , and they will get to test their spacecraftnext twelvemonth .
