Context

Four astronauts are sent to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida through a collaboration program of NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program.

Background

• The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. This mission has several firsts, including:
  • First commercial crew mission to fly two international partners
  • First commercial crew handover between astronauts on the space station as Crew-1 and Crew-2 astronauts will spend about five days together on station before Crew-1 returns to Earth
  • First reuse of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on a crew mission –Crew Dragon Endeavour flew the historic Demo-2 mission and the Falcon 9 flew astronauts on the Crew-1 mission
  • First time two commercial crew spacecraft will be docked to station at the same time

Analysis

What is the Crew-2 mission?

• The mission is second crew rotation of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and is first with international partners.
• It is a six-month science mission.
• Astronauts include two from NASA and two are from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission consist a rocket booster that is recycled from a previous spaceflight.
• The Falcon 9 rocket used in the Crew-2 mission was used to launch the Crew-1 into orbit five months ago. This marks the first time a previously flown rocket booster is re-used in a crewed launch.
• The latest mission is the second “operational” space station team that was launched by NASA aboard a Dragon Crew capsule.
• It is also the third crewed flight which is launched into lower Earth orbit under NASA’s fledgling public-private partnership with SpaceX.

What will Crew-2 do at ISS?

• Crew-2 astronauts will join the members of Expedition 65.
• They will stay aboard the ISS for six months and will conduct science experiments in low-Earth orbit.
• Their central focus will be to continue a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies.
  • Tissue Chips are small models of human organs that contain multiple cell types that behave similarly to the human body.
  • These chips can speed up the process of identifying safe and effective drugs and vaccines.
  • Scientists will use these tissue chips in space to study diseases that affect specific human organs.
  • The main advantage is that experiments in space takes lesser times in comparison to earth.

What is the Commercial Crew Program?

• The main objective of the program is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost to carry the cargo and crew transportation easier.
• NASA also plans to lower its costs by sharing them with commercial partners by building Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS).

Space Station A space station, also known as an orbital station or an orbital space station, is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. Stations must have docking ports to allow other spacecraft to dock to transfer crew and supplies. As of 2021, one fully operational and permanently inhabited space station is in low Earth orbit: the International Space Station (ISS). China, India, Russia, and the U.S., as well as Bigelow Aerospace and Axiom Space, are all planning other stations for the coming decades.  Lunar Space Station The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned small space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots. Gateway development includes four of the International Space Station partner agencies: NASA, ESA, JAXA, and CSA. Its construction is planned to take place in the 2020s.

Conclusion

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program would open access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, science sector, thus increasing the scope of commercial opportunities.