The International Space Station (ISS) recently welcomed four astronauts launched from Florida, in a collaborative mission between NASA and SpaceX known as ‘Crew-2.’ This mission signifies an important step forward in commercial space programs, with NASA acting as customers purchasing flight services from commercial companies like SpaceX. Let’s delve into the details.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program brings together NASA and private enterprise in a partnership aiming to facilitate astronaut travel to and from the ISS. Differing from traditional spaceflight programs, NASA functions here as a customer, purchasing flights from commercial providers instead of owning or operating spacecraft.
This program effectively aids in reducing spaceflight costs and may open up new commercial markets for human space occupancy. The initiative encourages private entities to deliver crew transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit. This allows NASA to concentrate on crafting spacecraft and rockets for deep-space exploration missions.
In 2014, NASA chose Boeing and SpaceX to formulate transportation systems to transfer crew members from the US to the ISS. Recently, the Indian government also demonstrated interest in privatising the space sector with the inception of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe).
Partnership Between NASA and SpaceX
In May 2020, NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight took off for the ISS with two astronauts onboard. The purpose of this trial flight was to evaluate the potential for regular usage of SpaceX capsules for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. Following the Demo-2 was the Crew-1 mission in November, signifying the commencement of a new space travel chapter, featuring six crewed missions between NASA and SpaceX.
Crew-1 marked the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS. Crew-1 team members joined members of Expedition 64 to conduct microgravity studies at the ISS.
About the Crew-2 Mission
Crew-2 is the second crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, notably featuring international partners for the first time. The four astronauts include two from NASA, one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and one from the European Space Agency (ESA).
These astronauts will become part of Expedition 65, the 65th long-duration expedition to the ISS, for six months. During their stay, they will conduct science experiments in low-Earth orbit, primarily focusing on a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies.
What Are Tissue Chips?
Tissue chips are miniature models of human organs containing several cell types that function similarly to the human body. According to NASA, these chips could expedite the process of identifying safe and effective drugs and vaccines. Researchers can utilize these tissue chips in space to study diseases impacting specific human organs, processes that would normally take months or years to develop on Earth.
The International Space Station
The ISS is a habitable artificial satellite, the largest single man-made structure in low-earth orbit. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998. Currently, it circles the Earth approximately every 92 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.
The ISS program is a joint project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada), with ownership and usage established through intergovernmental treaties and agreements. It functions as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory where crew members conduct experiments in numerous fields such as biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, among others.
The ISS has seen the longest continuous human presence in low earth orbit and is expected to operate until 2030.