SpaceX CREW-1 Vertical on Pad 39A

The real deal from SpaceX, looking good on the pad today.

Aesthetically, it strikes me as a modernist revival of the NASA moon shots of yore.

SpaceX Flight Certification: “Today, NASA announced it has certified SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon human spaceflight system for crew missions to and from the International Space Station – the first commercial system in history to achieve such designation. Not since the certification of the space shuttle nearly 40 years ago has NASA certified a spacecraft, rocket, and ground support systems for regular flights with astronauts.

SpaceX put every component of every system through its paces, including two flight tests to and from the International Space Station, demonstrations of Dragon’s escape system both on the launch pad and in-flight, over 700 tests of the spacecraft’s SuperDraco engines, more than 500 joint soft-capture docking tests to validate the performance of Dragon’s docking system design, about 8,000,000 hours of hardware in the loop software testing, and nearly 100 tests and flights of Dragon’s parachutes to ensure a safe landing back on Earth—in addition to all of the knowledge gained from twenty previous successful cargo resupply missions to the space station and over forty Falcon 9 block 5 launches.

Human spaceflight is SpaceX’s core mission, and we take seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted in us to safely carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. We are humbled to help NASA usher in a new era of space exploration.”