SpaceX DM – 2 Docking – May 31 2020
After a 19-hour ride aboard the new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken docked to the International Space Station May 31, inaugurating a new era of human spaceflight aboard a commercial space vehicle. The Crew Dragon automatically linked up to the international docking adapter at the forward end of the station’s Harmony module, setting the stage for a greeting by Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and Russian crewmates Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. The arrival of Hurley and Behnken culminated an historic mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, while expanding the Expedition crew on board the orbital outpost. Hurley and Behnken launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida May 30 almost nine years after the retirement of the space shuttle.