NASA ASTRONAUTS TRY OUT NEXT-GEN SPACESUITS BY SPACEX FOR THE 2020 MISSION
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 IST
NASA astronauts recently tried out the next-gen space suits by SpaceX for the scheduled 2020 launch as part of the agency's Commercial Crew program.
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Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley underwent 'suit-up procedures' at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, where they donned the new suits for a full launch day dry run, CNet reports. NASA has shared some pictures of the two astronauts wearing the suits.
The pair also ran through several emergency scenarios. The purpose of the dry run was to practice all the steps that will go down before the Falcon 9 rocket propels the astronauts to the International Space Station.
The training exercise is one of several that NASA astronauts have participated in with their commercial crew partners, Boeing and SpaceX, in preparation for crew flight tests.
As of June 2019, NASA JPL team had put together the Mars 2020 missions rover's back shell, descent-and-cruise-stage and tested them as well. The launch window for the rover opens on 17 July 2020, according to NASA.
If it launches as planned, the rover is estimated to arrive on Mars by 18 February 2021. Mars 2020 will look for ancient habitable conditions on the planet and microbial life. It will also collect rock and soil samples to study for biological signatures.
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