X-FACTOR
Amazing SpaceX video reveals how Crew Dragon capsule will fire astronauts to the ISS
SPACEX has revealed how it plans to launch astronauts into space for the first time next year.
A simulated video released by the US rocket company shows its Crew Dragon capsule on a trip to the International Space Station.
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A crew of two spacefarers strolls into the 13ft-wide capsule atop one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets before it's blasted into orbit.
It separates from the rocket beyond Earth's atmosphere before gliding to the International Space Station (ISS) 250 miles above our planet's surface.
The Crew Dragon was due to begin taking astronauts to the orbiting space lab earlier this year but its first launch was pushed back after a safety test resulted in an unmanned capsule exploding in April.
No one was killed in the blast but the incident delayed the craft's launch schedule by more than 12 months.
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Following the simulation's release on Monday, SpaceX boss Elon Musk tweeted that the capsule should be "physically ready" to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in February, 2020.
However, completing all safety reviews would "probably take a few more months", he added.
The two-minute clip also shows how Crew Dragon will return to Earth following missions to the ISS.
The capsule separates from the station before autonomously gliding towards our planet.
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It performs several orbits of Earth before burning through Earth's atmosphere, slowing its descent to the surface using four parachutes.
SpaceX has designed the capsule so it can be re-used on several missions in a bid to cut costs.
Nasa currently sends astronauts into space by piggybacking on launches of Russian Soyuz rockets.
The US space agency last fired one of its own astronauts into space in 2011.
What is the ISS?
Here's what you need to know about the International Space Station...
- The International Space Station, often abbreviated to ISS, is a large space craft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go up there to complete scientific missions
- Many countries worked together to build it and they work together to use it
- It is made up of many pieces, which astronauts had to send up individually on rockets and put together from 1998 to 2000
- Ever since the year 2000, people have lived on the ISS
- Nasa uses the station to learn about living and working in space
- It is approximately 250 miles above Earth and orbits around the planet just like a satellite
- Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, lots of science labs and a big bay window for viewing Earth
Nasa retired its astronaut-carrying space shuttles that year to make way for a new space exploration program aimed at sending man to asteroids and other deep space targets.
However, multiple delays to its development schedule has left the space agency without a way to fire astronauts to space for several years.
Nasa hopes to fill the gap with spacecraft launched by private companies like SpaceX, owned by Musk, and Blue Origin, run by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
SpaceX has carried out dozens of successful safety tests but recent setbacks have caught the ire of Nasa boss Jim Bridenstine.
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Specifically, he lambasted SpaceX for setting unrealistic timelines for the development of its space technologies.
Bridenstine recently held a joint conference with Musk after maligning the company on Twitter.
"I have been focused on returning to realism when it comes to costs and schedules," said the Nasa Administrator.
"So I was signalling - and I haven't done it just to SpaceX but to all of our contractors - that we need more realism built into the development timelines."
SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule 'explodes in catastrophic safety test'
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In other space news, Musk recently unveiled SpaceX's new Starship rocket designed for private trips to the Moon and Mars.
SpaceX apparently wants the US Army to use the 18,000 mile-an-hour spacecraft to transport troops & supplies across the planet in "minutes".
And, this stunning Earth ‘timelapse’ photo taken from space reveals huge field of thunderstorms, giant wildfires and bright city lights.
Do you think man will ever make it to Mars? Let us know in the comments!
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