Crew Dragon Demo-2 was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named Endeavour, launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station in the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and the first ever operated by a commercial provider. Demo-2 was also the first two-person orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since STS-4 in 1982. Demo-2 completed the validation of crewed spaceflight operations using SpaceX hardware and received human-rating certification for the spacecraft, including astronaut testing of Crew Dragon capabilities on orbit.
Behnken (left) and Hurley (right)Commercial Crew Development← SpaceX In-Flight Abort TestBoeing OFT-2 → Crew Dragon flights← SpaceX In-Flight Abort TestSpaceX Crew-1 →
Image: Space X Demo 2 Launch (NHQ202005300044)
Image: KSC 20200802 PH MTD 0018
Falcon 9 and Dragon rolls out to the launch pad, bearing the NASA "worm" logo.
Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX also launches private missions, such as Inspiration4 and Axiom Space Missions. There are two variants of the Dragon spacecraft: Crew Dragon, a spacecraft capable of ferrying four crewmembers, and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the original Dragon 1 used to carry freight to and from space. The spacecraft consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown. It has proven to be the most cost effective spacecraft in history to be used by NASA.
Crew Dragon approaching the ISS in March 2019 during Demo-1
Crew Dragon Launch Configuration
Crew Dragon C204 in the LC-39A Horizontal Integration Facility in December 2018 preparing for the launch of DM-1
Crew Dragon Freedom with its four Mk3 main parachutes deployed