Episode 660: Crew Dragon Reaches the Station. What it Took to Replace the Space Shuttle

On Sunday, May 31st, 2020, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley docked with the International Space Station. This was a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX and NASA, giving the United States the capability of launching its own astronauts, and no longer relying on its Russian partners. This was the 5th time that US astronauts went into orbit on a new kind of space vehicle, following in the footsteps of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio Weekly email newsletter: https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/ Astronomy Cast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSg Support us at https://www.patreon.com/universetoday More stories at https://www.universetoday.com/ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Instagram - https://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com References: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ccp-press-kit/main.html https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/05/27/historic-launch-pad-39a/ https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/05/31/international-space-station-welcomes-first-spacex-crew-dragon-with-nasa-astronauts/ https://www.space.com/2811-nasa-places-500-million-bet-firms.html https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/news/COTS_selection.html https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/the-trampoline-is-working-spacex-returns-human-spaceflight-to-america/ https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ccp-press-kit/dm1.html https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/12/ https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html https://spaceadventures.com/space-adventures-announces-agreement-with-spacex-to-launch-private-citizens-on-the-crew-dragon-spacecraft/ https://www.universetoday.com/144791/nasa-is-going-to-add-a-commercial-module-to-the-space-station/ https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/04/06/boeing-to-fly-second-uncrewed-orbital-flight-test-for-nasa/