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Space X's Crew Dragon successfully docks at ISS as astronauts Doug and Bob name spacecraft Endeavour

American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made it to the space station at 10.16 am EDT on May 31 in just over 19 hours after blasting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
PUBLISHED JUN 1, 2020
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley (SpaceX/Ashish Sharma)
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley (SpaceX/Ashish Sharma)

About 250 miles above Earth, Space X's Crew Dragon scripted history. It became the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station (ISS).  Two American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made it to the space station at 10:16 a.m. EDT May 31 in just over 19 hours after blasting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

"Dragon, arriving," NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, who was already onboard the ISS, said  "Bob and Doug, we are glad to have you as part of the crew," he added. "This is the first time in human history @NASA_Astronauts have entered the @Space_Station from a commercially-made spacecraft. @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug have finally arrived to the orbiting laboratory in @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft," NASA tweeted.

Space X created the automated Crew Dragon to ferry people to and from the ISS. The aim behind the operation was to assess if the spacecraft met NASA's standards. Over the next few months, its performance — from launch and docking to the landing operations — will be evaluated.  The astronauts will spend up to four months on the space station, testing all onboard systems and giving their feedback. If it passes muster, it could change how NASA flies to the station.

NASA's space shuttle retired about nine years ago. Since then, the space agency has relied on Russia to take astronauts to the ISS, shelling out more than $80 million per seat. Realizing the need for developing a spacecraft on American soils, NASA awarded contracts worth $3.1 billion and $4.8 billion to private companies: Space X and Boeing.

"It's been a real honor to be a small part of this nine-year endeavor since the last time a United States spaceship has docked with the ISS," Hurley said, highlighting that this is the year of privately- built spacecraft such as Space X Dragon and Boeing's CST100-Starliner.

Views of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken onboard are seen on monitors inside firing room four as the spacecraft approaches to the International Space Station for docking, Sunday, May 31, 2020 (NASA HQ PHOTO/ Flickr)

According to tradition, the astronauts get to name the spaceship that made its maiden flight carrying humans. "Without further ado, we would like to welcome you aboard capsule Endeavour," Hurley said. "We chose Endeavour for a few reasons, because of this incredible endeavour Nasa, SpaceX, and the United States have been on since the end of the shuttle program back in 2011," he added.

“The other reason is a little more personal to Bob and I. We both had our first flights on shuttle Endeavour, and it just meant so much for us to carry on that name." Space X has cleared its first hurdle after launch and docking. Their next challenge is to safely bring the astronauts home. "I'm breathing a sigh of relief but I won’t be celebrating until Bob and Doug are home safely."

Elon Musk, the founder of Space X and Tesla, said shortly after the launch: "It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA, and by a number of other partners," he said in a statement. "You can look at this as the results of a hundred thousand people roughly when you add up all the suppliers and everyone working incredibly hard to make this day happen."

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