NASA SpaceX Astronauts Ready To Take Flight Amidst Recent Mishaps

Despite major mishaps during important test runs of SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, NASA’s first astronauts set to ride aboard Elon Musk’s spaceship are willing and eager to ride on its first manned mission.

According to a Reuters report, former NASA space shuttle crew Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are ready to be part of the next demo of the Crew Dragon manned missions. The crew is supposed to head to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to Earth via the SpaceX capsule.

Both Behnken and Hurley are not daunted by the recent spate of accidents that SpaceX has been facing and said that it is all part of the process to succeed in the mission.

SpaceX’s current hiccups will most likely push the manned missions to next year instead of 2019, but the NASA astronauts expressed confidence in the technology of Musk’s space agency. NASA is supporting SpaceX’s space projects as part of the U.S. agency’s commercial space program.

“People to a degree think it’s pretty glamorous to be able to go into space, but it’s actually like a messy camping trip,” Hurley said during an interview with astronauts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

After a successful demo that brought the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS without assistance, Musk’s space agency has been working hard on the next phase of their mission: human transport.

During a crucial test last April, the Crew Dragon blew up while SpaceX was firing up engines embedded within the spacecraft. The capsule is equipped with eight small thrusters known as SuperDraco engines, which were supposed to be used as an escape plan should the crew encounter serious problems in space. The Crew Dragon also failed a parachute test.

The failures seriously undermined the capability of Musk’s company to bring NASA astronauts to space. This is most likely why NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine recently said that the only way to get back to space, starting with a Moon mission, is via the space agency’s own launch systems SLS and Orion.

The explosion was referred to as an “anomaly” by SpaceX personnel, and both Behnken and Hurley were given access to find out what actually happened.

“In general, the anomaly that happened to us in the past, that’s the best kind because we’ll figure that one out ... and we’ll make sure that that’s not going to happen again. We’re the risk-takers, and being informed on that risk is super important as well,” Behnken said.