Plan de la NASA para aterrizajes espaciales autónomos 0:59
(CNN Business) ––
Los cuatro astronautas que comenzarán una estancia de seis meses en la Estación Espacial Internacional el próximo mes sonrieron al revelar su nombre para el vehículo Crew Dragon de SpaceX que pronto los llevará en su viaje extraterrestre.
Se llamará «Resiliencia».
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The team prepares to take a historic step in the US space program.
Its mission, named Crew-1, will be the first fully operational for a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
It will also be the beginning of what NASA hopes are many more missions to come.
This will allow the agency to make full use of the International Space Station.
As well as dramatically increasing the number of scientific experiments that can be performed in the million dollar orbital laboratory.
"If we look at the definition of resilience, it means to function well in times of stress or to overcome challenging or stressful events," said Mike Hopkins, a NASA astronaut.
"I think we all agree that 2020 has certainly been a challenging year: a global pandemic, economic difficulties, unrest, isolation," he added.
Hopkins will be the commander of the spaceship on the mission.
The astronauts who will be on the NASA and SpaceX mission
According to the astronaut, the name was chosen to honor the SpaceX and NASA teams that worked during the covid-19 pandemic.
Everything to prepare the spacecraft for the mission.
"And frankly, it is in honor of our families, our colleagues, our fellow citizens, our international partners and our leaders that they have demonstrated the same quality, the same characteristics," completed Hopkins.
The crew for the upcoming missions also includes NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Victor Glover.
The latter is the first black person to serve as a full-time crew member on the International Space Station, which is now two decades old.
Also on the team is Soichi Noguchi, an astronaut from Japan's JAXA Space Agency.
Soichi is also a veteran of the NASA Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions.
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The team of four astronauts is expected to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:40 am Miami time on Oct. 31.
This will be SpaceX's second manned mission.
Additionally, it is the second to be launched in the United States since NASA's Space Shuttle program was withdrawn nine years ago.
The first Crew Dragon to carry humans - and which was considered a test mission - took off in May.
Precisely the same week that protests against racial injustice and police brutality began to spread across the United States.
Criticisms of the mission
Some social media users also criticized journalists and astronauts who spoke on broader topics, considering them a distraction.
Glover responded to one such criticism: 'Remember who is working in space.
It's the people, ”he wrote.
He added: "We will understand and overcome racism and intolerance so that we can work in space together and safely."
But earthly problems, of course, have not disappeared.
So Glover pointed out in an interview with Rachel Crane of CNN Business on Tuesday.
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I'm not immune to things that happen in the world right now.
From the physical insecurity that many people feel to the economic insecurity, "he said.
I'll say this: the overriding feeling I have is that I want to go there and do my job well.
Then come back and tell a great story about a great mission and a great team so that people have something to look up to and look forward to, ”he added.
Hopkins added during the media event that the mission insignia that identifies the crew also seeks to convey the group's message.
It's noticeably different from the badge that debuted for the SpaceX-NASA mission that launched in May.
There is no American flag.
The names of the astronauts are not embroidered on the outside of the patch.
"It's not just a connection for the four of us," he said.
“We feel that it is a connection with all of you, for all of you.
We hope this makes them smile and we hope it brings them something positive in life, "he added.
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