Question: On 15 November 2020; NASA and SpaceX’s Joint Mission, Resilience headed for-
a) Mars
b) Jupiter
c) International Space Station
d) Moon
Answer: (c)
Related Facts:
- On 15 November 2020; NASA and SpaceX’s Joint Mission, Resilience headed for International Space Station.
- It has taken an international crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station.
- The event has become the first successful launch on NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history.
- NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off at 7:27 p.m. EST on 15 November 2020 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft into orbit to begin a six-month science mission aboard the space station.
- NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) travelled to the space station with it.
- This is an important mission for NASA, SpaceX and Japan’s space agency JAXA.
- The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, has docked autonomously to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module about 11 p.m. November 16.
- The Crew-1 mission is the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
- This mission has several firsts, including:
- The first flight of the NASA-certified commercial system designed for crew transportation, which moves the system from development into regular flights;
- The first international crew of four to launch on an American commercial spacecraft;
- The first time the space station’s long duration expedition crew size will increase from six to seven crew members, which will add to the crew time available for research; and
- The first time the Federal Aviation Administration has licensed a human orbital spaceflight launch.
Mission Objectives:
- The crew will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return in spring 2021.
- It is scheduled to be the longest human space mission launched from the United States.
- The Crew Dragon spacecraft is capable of staying in orbit for at least 210 days, as a NASA requirement.
- Crew Dragon also is delivering more than 500 pounds of cargo, new science hardware.
- Experiments will be conducted inside, including Food Physiology, a study of the effects of an optimized diet on crew health and, Genes in Space-7.
- A student-designed experiment that aims to better understand how spaceflight affects brain function.
- Such kind of experiment will enable scientists to keep astronauts healthy as they prepare for long-duration missions in low-Earth orbit and beyond.
Following science and research investigations will be performed by the crew during its six-month mission-
i. study using chips with tissue that mimics the structure and function of human organs to understand the role of microgravity on human health and diseases.
ii. These findings then will be translated to improve human health on Earth.
iii. Growing radishes in different types of light and soils as part of ongoing efforts to produce food in space.
iv. Testing a new system to remove heat from NASA’s next generation spacesuit, the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU).
During their stay on the orbiting laboratory, Crew-1 astronauts expect to see a range of unscrewed spacecraft including-
i. The next generation of SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft,
ii. The Northrop Grumman Cygnus, and
iii. The Boeing CST-100 Starliner on its uncrewed flight test to the station.
iv. They also will conduct a variety of spacewalks and welcome crews of the Russian Soyuz vehicle and the next SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2021.
By – Rajesh Tripathi