The SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station on May 31, 2020, with its nose cone open, revealing the docking mechanism that would connect to the Harmony module’s forward International Docking Adapter. Astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program were aboard, having launched a day earlier on the Demo-2 mission, which was designed to test and validate SpaceX’s crew transportation system – from launch to in-orbit, docking, landing, and recovery operations. Hurley and Behnken returned to Earth in a splashdown on Aug. 2, after spending two months aboard the station. The mission marked the first time a commercial company
NASA photo
launched astronauts into space.
46
