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by Andrea Bettini April 17, 2020 The date that will open a new chapter in space exploration, at least as regards the United States, has been set: May 27, 2020. That day the launches of astronauts from American soil to the International Space Station will resume, interrupted in July 2011 with the latest Shuttle mission. Starting from the launch pad 39B of Cape Canaveral will be the new shuttle Crew Dragon, developed by the private company SpaceX.

Two astronauts on board
There will be two veterans on board: Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. Both have already flown twice on the Shuttle. Douglas Hurley was on board the Atlantis during the final mission of the historic spaceship, as if to give the idea of ​​a speech that will resume where he left off. The length of their stay in the orbiting laboratory has not yet been defined.

NASA Number One Announcement NASA
Number One, Jim Bridenstine, made the announcement with this tweet.


BREAKING: On May 27, @NASA will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil! With our @SpaceX partners, @Astro_Doug and @AstroBehnken will launch to the @Space_Station on the #CrewDragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Let's #LaunchAmerica? ￰ ﾟ ﾇ ﾸ pic.twitter.com/RINb3mfRWI

- Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 17, 2020


Launch at 22.32 Italian time

The Crew Dragon shuttle has never made a flight into space with crew and that of 27 May will be the last test before it can certify it for use in long-term missions. It will be brought into orbit by a Falcon 9 launcher, also from SpaceX. The engines will be turned on when it will be 22.32 in Italy. Very few people will have the privilege of witnessing the launch from Cape Canaveral: the coronavirus emergency has imposed considerable restrictions on access and only essential personnel will be present. The general public will have to settle for live television or internet images.

Stop dependence on Russian Soyuz
For NASA it is a very important moment, awaited for years and postponed several times already due to delays and technical problems. In fact, since the Shuttle retired in 2011, the United States depends entirely on the Russian Soyuz shuttles to bring its astronauts to the International Space Station. The Starliner launch system developed by Boeing, the other piece of the US program as regards flights to the International Space Station, should also be ready in the coming months.