Space X's Crew Dragon Capsule makes a first
This week is a big step for space travel and a big step for Space X. On May 30th 2020, the Crew Dragon capsule took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to become SpaceX’s first crewed mission. Soon after, the capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station making it the first American space shuttle to dock to do so. The Crew Dragon displayed one of its biggest features with its automated docking system. The feature allows the capsule to autonomously approach the station and dock without any human input. This automated feature will help with the docking process, where currently shuttle crew has to manually dock via a robotic arm. It is expected that the astronauts will stay at the International Space Station between 6 and 16 weeks, after which the astronauts will plunge back down to Earth via the Crew Dragon capsule. The capsule comes equipped with heat shields to protect the astronauts from the high temperatures when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.