🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 16 (from laksa154)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa016.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52840482\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52840482\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-52840482","crawl_time":1774019242,"first_indexed_time":1590947292,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,bbc!www,\/news\/science-environment-52840482 s443","src_root_hash":"1643509356818581016","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"What is the SpaceX Crew Dragon?","meta_descriptions":["A guide to SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle, which carries astronauts to the space station."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"14 November 2020\nPaul Rincon\nScience editor, BBC News website\nNASA\nCrew Dragon (right) next to the Falcon 9 rocket\nElon Musk's SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle.\nElon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX.\nThe entrepreneur achieved that ambition\non Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011.\nWhen the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and\nBoeing\nworked on developing vehicles to take over that job.\nMusk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.\nSpaceX topic page\nBoeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide\nWhat is Elon Musk's Starship?\nAn overview of Crew Dragon\nIn May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.\nIt's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon.\nFrom launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft).\nThe Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space.\nIf anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket.\nWhy SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa\nAstronauts begin historic mission on private craft\nAmateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission\nSpacex\nThere are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body\nInside the spacecraft\nSpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon \"feel like a 21st Century spaceship\".\nHe explains: \"Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind.\"\nThe three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle.\nAs the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input.\nNASA\nHurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to.\n\"As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen,\" he says.\n\"But what you do get is an indication of where you touched.\" That indication is a \"return flash\" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input.\nFor scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are \"much more than adequate\", Hurley adds.\nBehnken explains: \"It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle.\"\nSpaceX\nThe crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits\n'A suit-seat system'\nThe space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon.\nThe sleek, customised outfits\ncontrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule.\n\"The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system,\" says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX.\nCrew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible.\nWhen the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an \"umbilical\" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections.\nSpaceX\nArtwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off\nGetting to orbit\nThe Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts.\nIn the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely.\nCommenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: \"That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive.\"\n\"Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug\"\nHurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances.\nCrew Dragon is also designed to be \"two-fault tolerant\". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely.\nDuring missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: \"We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station.\nNASA \/ EPA\nCrew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS\n\"All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'\"\nThe flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target.\nThe vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space.\nLeaving for home\nWhen astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters.\nThe vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound.\nThe material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat.\n\"Thank you for flying SpaceX\" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth\nThere's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him.\n\"I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent,\" Musk says.\nThen, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent.\nNASA\/Bill Ingalls\nFinally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule.\nThe spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans.","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-52840482#main-content)\n\n[Register](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?action=register&userOrigin=BBCS_BBC&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fscience-environment-52840482)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?userOrigin=BBCS_BBC&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fscience-environment-52840482)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/technology)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Arts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/arts)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/home)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n  - [US & Canada](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/us-canada)\n  - [UK](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk)\n    - [UK Politics](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/politics)\n    - [England](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/england)\n    - [N. 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[Live Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live\/sport)\n\n[Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n[Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n\nBusiness\n\nTechnology\n\n[Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n\nCulture\n\nArts\n\nTravel\n\nEarth\n\nAudio\n\nVideo\n\nLive\n\n[Weather](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/weather)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/newsletters)\n\n# What is the SpaceX Crew Dragon?\n14 November 2020\n\nShare\n\nSave\n\nPaul RinconScience editor, BBC News website\n\nShare\n\nSave\n\n![NASA Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7807\/production\/_112572703_dm-1-20181218-129a8083-2-apprvd.jpg.webp)NASA\n\nCrew Dragon (right) next to the Falcon 9 rocket\n\n**Elon Musk's SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle.**\n\nElon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX.\n\n[The entrepreneur achieved that ambition](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52855029) on Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011.\n\nWhen the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and [Boeing](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-57971910) worked on developing vehicles to take over that job.\n\nCrew Dragon is now making routine visits to the orbiting outpost and, as of September 2021, is also being used for fully private missions that [carry \"amateur astronauts\" to orbit.](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-58561621)\n\nMusk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.\n\n- [SpaceX topic page](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/topics\/c5y915pwp89t\/spacex)\n- [Boeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-57971910)\n- [What is Elon Musk's Starship?](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-55564448)\n\n![The capsule](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/B1E6\/production\/_112424554_space_x_dragon_capsule_inf640-2x-nc.png.webp)\n\n## An overview of Crew Dragon\nIn May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.\n\nIt's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon.\n\nFrom launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft).\n\nThe Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space.\n\nIf anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket.\n\n- [Why SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52818543)\n- [Astronauts begin historic mission on private craft](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52855029)\n- [Amateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-58561621)\n\n![Spacex Crew Dragon interior](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/62A4\/production\/_112425252_maxresdefault.jpg.webp)Spacex\n\nThere are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body\n## Inside the spacecraft\nSpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon \"feel like a 21st Century spaceship\".\n\nHe explains: \"Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind.\"\n\nThe three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle.\n\nAs the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input.\n\n![NASA Touchscreen controls](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA\n\nHurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to.\n\n\"As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen,\" he says.\n\n\"But what you do get is an indication of where you touched.\" That indication is a \"return flash\" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input.\n\nFor scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are \"much more than adequate\", Hurley adds.\n\nBehnken explains: \"It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle.\"\n\n![SpaceX Crew-1 flight astronauts](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX\n\nThe crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits\n## 'A suit-seat system'\nThe space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon. [The sleek, customised outfits](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52787365) contrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule.\n\n\"The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system,\" says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX.\n\nCrew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible.\n\nWhen the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an \"umbilical\" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections.\n\n![SpaceX Crew Dragon](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX\n\nArtwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off\n## Getting to orbit\nThe Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts.\n\nIn the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely.\n\nCommenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: \"That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive.\"\n\n\"Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug\"\n\nHurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances.\n\nCrew Dragon is also designed to be \"two-fault tolerant\". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely.\n\nDuring missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: \"We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station.\n\n![NASA \/ EPA Crew Dragon docking to the ISS](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA \/ EPA\n\nCrew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS\n\n\"All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'\"\n\nThe flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target.\n\nThe vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space.\n\n![The return](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)\n\n## Leaving for home\nWhen astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters.\n\nThe vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound.\n\nThe material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat.\n\n\"Thank you for flying SpaceX\" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth\n\nThere's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him.\n\n\"I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent,\" Musk says.\n\nThen, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent.\n\n![NASA\/Bill Ingalls Dragon capsule](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA\/Bill Ingalls\n\nFinally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule.\n\nThe spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans.\n\nFollow Paul [on Twitter.](https:\/\/twitter.com\/rincon_p)\n\n[Elon Musk](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/c302m85q53mt)\n\n[Space tourism](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/c4028d970e4t)\n\n[SpaceX](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/c5y915pwp89t)\n\n[Human spaceflight](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cdq4wl4851yt)\n\n[Space](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cml9e982d1dt)\n\n[International Space Station](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cvenzmgygy8t)\n\n[Space exploration](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cvenzmgyww4t)\n\n***\nRelated\n\n[Teens sue Musk's xAI over Grok's pornographic images of them](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cgk2lzmm22eo)\n\n[Musk tells jury 'people read too much' into his posts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c7433dz4ykwo)\n\n[Musk cuts Starlink access for Russian forces - giving Ukraine an edge at the front](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c0q3ndj7052o)\n\n***\nMore from the BBC\n\n[16 mins ago ![A white rocket flying through the air. Blue sky in the background. There is fire and fuel coming out of the rocket itself. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Second company plans Shetland rocket launch this year A number of firms hope to use SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst as a launch site for commercial rockets. 16 mins ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cy51496pz07o)\n\n[9 hrs ago ![NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, is seen as it rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, Friday, March 20, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Nasa's Artemis Moon rocket rolls back to pad for possible April launch Nasa is preparing a mission to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. 9 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/ckgrw045pg7o)\n\n[5 days ago ![Nicole Stott, who has long brown hair and is wearing dark rimmed glasses and a dark jacket and top with a green and yellow pendant round her neck. images from stamps are on the screen behind her.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp) The astronaut who took one giant leap for Manx-kind Retired astronaut Nicole Stott says being in space \"does make you look at Earth differently\". 5 days ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cpqw0w0819yo)\n\n[7 days ago ![The image shows four astronauts in bright orange space suits posing for a formal group portrait against a dark background. The suits are bulky with blue joints, straps and pockets, emphasising their technical design. Three astronauts stand behind one who is seated, all facing the camera. They all have fairly neutral expressions, keeping the focus on the uniforms. Mission-style patches and flags, including US and Canadian flags, are visible on their arms and chests. Soft, focused lighting makes the vivid orange suits stand out dramatically.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp) When does the Nasa Moon mission launch and who are the Artemis II crew? The first crewed Moon mission in 50 years could launch in February, ahead of a future lunar landing. 7 days ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c0q4w3l0wdvo)\n\n[8 days ago ![A large and very bright full Moon appears directly on the top of Nasa's Space Launch System rocket at night. The orange and white rocket is sitting next to a steel support structure called a mobile launcher.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Artemis II: Nasa targets early April for Moon mission Nasa says technical problems that have delayed the rocket are fixed and it is ready for launch. 8 days ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4g8qp42rq6o)\n***\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/technology)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Arts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/arts)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/weather)\n- [BBC Shop](https:\/\/shop.bbc.com\/)\n- [BritBox](https:\/\/www.britbox.com\/?utm_source=bbc.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=footer)\n\nBBC in other languages\n\n### The BBC is in multiple languages\n#### Read the BBC In your own language\n[Oduu Afaan Oromootiin](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/afaanoromoo)\n\n[Amharic ዜና በአማርኛ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/amharic)\n\n[Arabic عربي](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/arabic)\n\n[Azeri AZƏRBAYCAN](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/azeri)\n\n[Bangla বাংলা](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bengali)\n\n[Burmese မြန်မာ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/burmese)\n\n[Chinese 中文网](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/zhongwen\/simp)\n\n[Dari دری](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/dari)\n\n[French AFRIQUE](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/afrique)\n\n[Hausa HAUSA](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/hausa)\n\n[Hindi हिन्दी](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/hindi)\n\n[Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/naidheachdan)\n\n[Gujarati ગુજરાતીમાં સમાચાર](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/gujarati)\n\n[Igbo AKỤKỌ N’IGBO](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/igbo)\n\n[Indonesian INDONESIA](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/indonesia)\n\n[Japanese 日本語](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/japanese)\n\n[Kinyarwanda GAHUZA](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/gahuza)\n\n[Kirundi KIRUNDI](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/gahuza)\n\n[Korean 한국어](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/korean)\n\n[Kyrgyz Кыргыз](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/kyrgyz)\n\n[Marathi मराठी](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/marathi)\n\n[Nepali नेपाली](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/nepali)\n\n[Noticias para hispanoparlantes](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mundo)\n\n[Pashto پښتو](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pashto)\n\n[Persian فارسی](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/persian)\n\n[Pidgin](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pidgin)\n\n[Polish PO POLSKU](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/polska)\n\n[Portuguese BRASIL](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/portuguese)\n\n[Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਖ਼ਬਰਾਂ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/punjabi)\n\n[Russian НА РУССКОМ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/russian)\n\n[Serbian NA SRPSKOM](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/serbian\/lat)\n\n[Sinhala සිංහල](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sinhala)\n\n[Somali SOMALI](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/somali)\n\n[Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/swahili)\n\n[Tamil தமிழில் செய்திகள்](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/tamil)\n\n[Telugu తెలుగు వార్తలు](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/telugu)\n\n[Thai ข่าวภาษาไทย](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/thai)\n\n[Tigrinya ዜና ብትግርኛ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/tigrinya)\n\n[Turkish TÜRKÇE](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/turkce)\n\n[Ukrainian УКРАЇНСЬКA](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/ukrainian)\n\n[Urdu اردو](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/urdu)\n\n[Uzbek O'ZBEK](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/uzbek)\n\n[Vietnamese TIẾNG VIỆT](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/vietnamese)\n\n[Welsh NEWYDDION](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/cymrufyw)\n\n[Yoruba ÌRÒYÌN NÍ YORÙBÁ](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/yoruba)\n\nFollow BBC on:\n\n- [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/terms-of-use)\n- [Subscription Terms](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/subscription-terms)\n- [About the BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/aboutthebbc)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/privacy-policy)\n- [Cookies](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/usingthebbc\/cookies\/)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/accessibility\/)\n- [Contact the BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/contact)\n- [Advertise with us](https:\/\/advertising.bbcstudios.com\/)\n- [Do not share or sell my info](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/usingthebbc\/cookies\/how-can-i-change-my-bbc-cookie-settings\/)\n- [BBC.com Help & FAQs](https:\/\/help.bbc.com\/hc\/)\n- [Content Index](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/content-index)\n- [Set Preferred Source](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20260128-how-to-make-google-put-trusted-sources-up-top-when-you-search)\n\nCopyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [**Read about our approach to external linking.**](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/editorialguidelines\/guidance\/feeds-and-links)","attrs_readable_markdown":"14 November 2020\n\nPaul RinconScience editor, BBC News website\n\n![NASA Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7807\/production\/_112572703_dm-1-20181218-129a8083-2-apprvd.jpg.webp)NASA\n\nCrew Dragon (right) next to the Falcon 9 rocket\n\n**Elon Musk's SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle.**\n\nElon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX.\n\n[The entrepreneur achieved that ambition](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52855029) on Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011.\n\nWhen the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and [Boeing](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-57971910) worked on developing vehicles to take over that job.\n\nMusk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.\n\n- [SpaceX topic page](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/topics\/c5y915pwp89t\/spacex)\n- [Boeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-57971910)\n- [What is Elon Musk's Starship?](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-55564448)\n\n![The capsule](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/B1E6\/production\/_112424554_space_x_dragon_capsule_inf640-2x-nc.png.webp)\n\nAn overview of Crew Dragon\n\nIn May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.\n\nIt's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon.\n\nFrom launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft).\n\nThe Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space.\n\nIf anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket.\n\n- [Why SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52818543)\n- [Astronauts begin historic mission on private craft](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52855029)\n- [Amateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-58561621)\n\n![Spacex Crew Dragon interior](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/62A4\/production\/_112425252_maxresdefault.jpg.webp)Spacex\n\nThere are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body\n\nInside the spacecraft\n\nSpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon \"feel like a 21st Century spaceship\".\n\nHe explains: \"Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind.\"\n\nThe three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle.\n\nAs the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input.\n\n![NASA Touchscreen controls](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA\n\nHurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to.\n\n\"As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen,\" he says.\n\n\"But what you do get is an indication of where you touched.\" That indication is a \"return flash\" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input.\n\nFor scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are \"much more than adequate\", Hurley adds.\n\nBehnken explains: \"It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle.\"\n\n![SpaceX Crew-1 flight astronauts](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX\n\nThe crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits\n\n'A suit-seat system'\n\nThe space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon. [The sleek, customised outfits](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-52787365) contrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule.\n\n\"The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system,\" says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX.\n\nCrew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible.\n\nWhen the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an \"umbilical\" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections.\n\n![SpaceX Crew Dragon](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX\n\nArtwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off\n\nGetting to orbit\n\nThe Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts.\n\nIn the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely.\n\nCommenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: \"That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive.\"\n\n\"Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug\"\n\nHurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances.\n\nCrew Dragon is also designed to be \"two-fault tolerant\". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely.\n\nDuring missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: \"We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station.\n\n![NASA \/ EPA Crew Dragon docking to the ISS](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA \/ EPA\n\nCrew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS\n\n\"All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'\"\n\nThe flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target.\n\nThe vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space.\n\n![The return](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)\n\nLeaving for home\n\nWhen astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters.\n\nThe vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound.\n\nThe material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat.\n\n\"Thank you for flying SpaceX\" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth\n\nThere's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him.\n\n\"I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent,\" Musk says.\n\nThen, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent.\n\n![NASA\/Bill Ingalls Dragon capsule](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024x1024\/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA\/Bill Ingalls\n\nFinally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule.\n\nThe spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans.","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	14 November 2020 Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website NASA Crew Dragon (right) next to the Falcon 9 rocket Elon Musk's SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle. Elon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX. The entrepreneur achieved that ambition on Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011. When the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and Boeing worked on developing vehicles to take over that job. Musk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS. SpaceX topic page Boeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide What is Elon Musk's Starship? An overview of Crew Dragon In May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon. From launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft). The Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space. If anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket. Why SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa Astronauts begin historic mission on private craft Amateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission Spacex There are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body Inside the spacecraft SpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon "feel like a 21st Century spaceship". He explains: "Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind." The three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle. As the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input. NASA Hurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to. "As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen," he says. "But what you do get is an indication of where you touched." That indication is a "return flash" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input. For scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are "much more than adequate", Hurley adds. Behnken explains: "It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle." SpaceX The crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits 'A suit-seat system' The space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon. The sleek, customised outfits contrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule. "The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system," says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX. Crew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible. When the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an "umbilical" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections. SpaceX Artwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off Getting to orbit The Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts. In the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely. Commenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: "That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive." "Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug" Hurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances. Crew Dragon is also designed to be "two-fault tolerant". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely. During missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: "We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station. NASA / EPA Crew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS "All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'" The flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target. The vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space. Leaving for home When astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters. The vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound. The material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat. "Thank you for flying SpaceX" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth There's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him. "I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent," Musk says. Then, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent. NASA/Bill Ingalls Finally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule. The spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans.
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It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle. Elon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX. [The entrepreneur achieved that ambition](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52855029) on Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011. When the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and [Boeing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57971910) worked on developing vehicles to take over that job. Crew Dragon is now making routine visits to the orbiting outpost and, as of September 2021, is also being used for fully private missions that [carry "amateur astronauts" to orbit.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58561621) Musk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS. - [SpaceX topic page](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c5y915pwp89t/spacex) - [Boeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57971910) - [What is Elon Musk's Starship?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55564448) ![The capsule](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/B1E6/production/_112424554_space_x_dragon_capsule_inf640-2x-nc.png.webp) ## An overview of Crew Dragon In May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon. From launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft). The Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space. If anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket. - [Why SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52818543) - [Astronauts begin historic mission on private craft](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52855029) - [Amateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58561621) ![Spacex Crew Dragon interior](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/62A4/production/_112425252_maxresdefault.jpg.webp)Spacex There are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body ## Inside the spacecraft SpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon "feel like a 21st Century spaceship". He explains: "Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind." The three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle. As the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input. ![NASA Touchscreen controls](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA Hurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to. "As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen," he says. "But what you do get is an indication of where you touched." That indication is a "return flash" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input. For scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are "much more than adequate", Hurley adds. Behnken explains: "It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle." ![SpaceX Crew-1 flight astronauts](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX The crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits ## 'A suit-seat system' The space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon. [The sleek, customised outfits](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52787365) contrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule. "The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system," says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX. Crew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible. When the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an "umbilical" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections. ![SpaceX Crew Dragon](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX Artwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off ## Getting to orbit The Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts. In the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely. Commenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: "That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive." "Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug" Hurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances. Crew Dragon is also designed to be "two-fault tolerant". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely. During missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: "We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station. ![NASA / EPA Crew Dragon docking to the ISS](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA / EPA Crew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS "All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'" The flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target. The vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space. ![The return](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) ## Leaving for home When astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters. The vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound. The material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat. "Thank you for flying SpaceX" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth There's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him. "I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent," Musk says. Then, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent. ![NASA/Bill Ingalls Dragon capsule](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA/Bill Ingalls Finally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule. The spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans. Follow Paul [on Twitter.](https://twitter.com/rincon_p) [Elon Musk](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c302m85q53mt) [Space tourism](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c4028d970e4t) [SpaceX](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c5y915pwp89t) [Human spaceflight](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cdq4wl4851yt) [Space](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cml9e982d1dt) [International Space Station](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cvenzmgygy8t) [Space exploration](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cvenzmgyww4t) * Related [Teens sue Musk's xAI over Grok's pornographic images of them](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk2lzmm22eo) [Musk tells jury 'people read too much' into his posts](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7433dz4ykwo) [Musk cuts Starlink access for Russian forces - giving Ukraine an edge at the front](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q3ndj7052o) * More from the BBC [16 mins ago ![A white rocket flying through the air. Blue sky in the background. There is fire and fuel coming out of the rocket itself. ](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Second company plans Shetland rocket launch this year A number of firms hope to use SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst as a launch site for commercial rockets. 16 mins ago](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy51496pz07o) [9 hrs ago ![NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, is seen as it rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, Friday, March 20, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Nasa's Artemis Moon rocket rolls back to pad for possible April launch Nasa is preparing a mission to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. 9 hrs ago](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgrw045pg7o) [5 days ago ![Nicole Stott, who has long brown hair and is wearing dark rimmed glasses and a dark jacket and top with a green and yellow pendant round her neck. images from stamps are on the screen behind her.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) The astronaut who took one giant leap for Manx-kind Retired astronaut Nicole Stott says being in space "does make you look at Earth differently". 5 days ago](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqw0w0819yo) [7 days ago ![The image shows four astronauts in bright orange space suits posing for a formal group portrait against a dark background. The suits are bulky with blue joints, straps and pockets, emphasising their technical design. Three astronauts stand behind one who is seated, all facing the camera. They all have fairly neutral expressions, keeping the focus on the uniforms. Mission-style patches and flags, including US and Canadian flags, are visible on their arms and chests. Soft, focused lighting makes the vivid orange suits stand out dramatically.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) When does the Nasa Moon mission launch and who are the Artemis II crew? The first crewed Moon mission in 50 years could launch in February, ahead of a future lunar landing. 7 days ago](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q4w3l0wdvo) [8 days ago ![A large and very bright full Moon appears directly on the top of Nasa's Space Launch System rocket at night. The orange and white rocket is sitting next to a steel support structure called a mobile launcher.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Artemis II: Nasa targets early April for Moon mission Nasa says technical problems that have delayed the rocket are fixed and it is ready for launch. 8 days ago](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8qp42rq6o) * - [Home](https://www.bbc.com/) - [News](https://www.bbc.com/news) - [Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport) - [Business](https://www.bbc.com/business) - [Technology](https://www.bbc.com/technology) - [Health](https://www.bbc.com/health) - [Culture](https://www.bbc.com/culture) - [Arts](https://www.bbc.com/arts) - [Travel](https://www.bbc.com/travel) - [Earth](https://www.bbc.com/future-planet) - [Audio](https://www.bbc.com/audio) - [Video](https://www.bbc.com/video) - [Live](https://www.bbc.com/live) - [Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather) - [BBC Shop](https://shop.bbc.com/) - [BritBox](https://www.britbox.com/?utm_source=bbc.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=footer) BBC in other languages ### The BBC is in multiple languages #### Read the BBC In your own language [Oduu Afaan Oromootiin](https://www.bbc.com/afaanoromoo) [Amharic ዜና በአማርኛ](https://www.bbc.com/amharic) [Arabic عربي](https://www.bbc.com/arabic) [Azeri AZƏRBAYCAN](https://www.bbc.com/azeri) [Bangla বাংলা](https://www.bbc.com/bengali) [Burmese မြန်မာ](https://www.bbc.com/burmese) [Chinese 中文网](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp) [Dari دری](https://www.bbc.com/dari) [French AFRIQUE](https://www.bbc.com/afrique) [Hausa HAUSA](https://www.bbc.com/hausa) [Hindi हिन्दी](https://www.bbc.com/hindi) [Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN](https://www.bbc.com/naidheachdan) [Gujarati ગુજરાતીમાં સમાચાર](https://www.bbc.com/gujarati) [Igbo AKỤKỌ N’IGBO](https://www.bbc.com/igbo) [Indonesian INDONESIA](https://www.bbc.com/indonesia) [Japanese 日本語](https://www.bbc.com/japanese) [Kinyarwanda GAHUZA](https://www.bbc.com/gahuza) [Kirundi KIRUNDI](https://www.bbc.com/gahuza) [Korean 한국어](https://www.bbc.com/korean) [Kyrgyz Кыргыз](https://www.bbc.com/kyrgyz) [Marathi मराठी](https://www.bbc.com/marathi) [Nepali नेपाली](https://www.bbc.com/nepali) [Noticias para hispanoparlantes](https://www.bbc.com/mundo) [Pashto پښتو](https://www.bbc.com/pashto) [Persian فارسی](https://www.bbc.com/persian) [Pidgin](https://www.bbc.com/pidgin) [Polish PO POLSKU](https://www.bbc.com/polska) [Portuguese BRASIL](https://www.bbc.com/portuguese) [Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਖ਼ਬਰਾਂ](https://www.bbc.com/punjabi) [Russian НА РУССКОМ](https://www.bbc.com/russian) [Serbian NA SRPSKOM](https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat) [Sinhala සිංහල](https://www.bbc.com/sinhala) [Somali SOMALI](https://www.bbc.com/somali) [Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI](https://www.bbc.com/swahili) [Tamil தமிழில் செய்திகள்](https://www.bbc.com/tamil) [Telugu తెలుగు వార్తలు](https://www.bbc.com/telugu) [Thai ข่าวภาษาไทย](https://www.bbc.com/thai) [Tigrinya ዜና ብትግርኛ](https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya) [Turkish TÜRKÇE](https://www.bbc.com/turkce) [Ukrainian УКРАЇНСЬКA](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian) [Urdu اردو](https://www.bbc.com/urdu) [Uzbek O'ZBEK](https://www.bbc.com/uzbek) [Vietnamese TIẾNG VIỆT](https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese) [Welsh NEWYDDION](https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw) [Yoruba ÌRÒYÌN NÍ YORÙBÁ](https://www.bbc.com/yoruba) Follow BBC on: - [Terms of Use](https://www.bbc.com/pages/terms-of-use) - [Subscription Terms](https://www.bbc.com/pages/subscription-terms) - [About the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.bbc.com/pages/privacy-policy) - [Cookies](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/) - [Accessibility Help](https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/) - [Contact the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact) - [Advertise with us](https://advertising.bbcstudios.com/) - [Do not share or sell my info](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/how-can-i-change-my-bbc-cookie-settings/) - [BBC.com Help & FAQs](https://help.bbc.com/hc/) - [Content Index](https://www.bbc.com/pages/content-index) - [Set Preferred Source](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260128-how-to-make-google-put-trusted-sources-up-top-when-you-search) Copyright 2026 BBC. 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Readable Markdown	14 November 2020 Paul RinconScience editor, BBC News website ![NASA Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7807/production/_112572703_dm-1-20181218-129a8083-2-apprvd.jpg.webp)NASA Crew Dragon (right) next to the Falcon 9 rocket Elon Musk's SpaceX has built the Crew Dragon primarily to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It was developed as part of Nasa's plan to hand over space station flights to American companies, after years of relying on Russian launches. Here's our guide to the vehicle. Elon Musk says human spaceflight had always been the fundamental goal for his pioneering company SpaceX. [The entrepreneur achieved that ambition](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52855029) on Saturday 30 May 2020, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into orbit for a rendezvous with the space station, or ISS. It was the first crewed vehicle to fly from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011. When the shuttle programme ended, Nasa had no immediate replacement vehicle. This left the space agency reliant on Russia to fly American astronauts to the ISS. In the meantime, however, SpaceX and [Boeing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57971910) worked on developing vehicles to take over that job. Musk's vehicle evolved from an earlier spacecraft, called Dragon 1, which has launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS. - [SpaceX topic page](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c5y915pwp89t/spacex) - [Boeing's Starliner spacecraft: A guide](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57971910) - [What is Elon Musk's Starship?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55564448) ![The capsule](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/B1E6/production/_112424554_space_x_dragon_capsule_inf640-2x-nc.png.webp) An overview of Crew Dragon In May 2014, Musk unveiled the seven-seat Crew Dragon concept during an event at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It's a capsule design - like the Apollo command modules that carried astronauts to the Moon. From launch up until shortly before re-entry, the capsule is attached to a section called the trunk, which has solar panels, heat-removal radiators, space for cargo, and fins to provide stability during emergency aborts. Together, the capsule and trunk stand around 8.1m (26.7ft) tall, with a diameter of 4m (13ft). The Crew Dragon is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters that manoeuvre the vehicle in orbit. Each Draco is capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space. If anything goes wrong during lift-off, the capsule has a launch escape system (LES) consisting of eight SuperDraco engines that each produce 16,000 pounds of force. The LES quickly separates Crew Dragon from its rocket. - [Why SpaceX is launching astronauts for Nasa](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52818543) - [Astronauts begin historic mission on private craft](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52855029) - [Amateur astronauts launch on 'inspiration' mission](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58561621) ![Spacex Crew Dragon interior](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/62A4/production/_112425252_maxresdefault.jpg.webp)Spacex There are three different seat sizes with foam that is moulded to an individual's body Inside the spacecraft SpaceX engineer John Federspiel, says the company had wanted to make Crew Dragon "feel like a 21st Century spaceship". He explains: "Probably one of the biggest features of Dragon are the touchscreens on the inside. We designed them not just to be very functional, but with a user experience in mind." The three large touchscreen displays that allow the commander and pilot to monitor and control the spacecraft are a world away from the analogue buttons and dials in the cockpits of previous vehicles such as the space shuttle. As the first humans assigned to fly on Crew Dragon, Hurley and Behnken worked closely with SpaceX to get the capsule ready for its historic launch in May 2020. The crew members - who had both previously flown on the shuttle - provided vital input. ![NASA Touchscreen controls](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA Hurley admits the touchscreens took a bit of getting used to. "As far as actual physical feedback, you certainly don't get that from the touchscreen," he says. "But what you do get is an indication of where you touched." That indication is a "return flash" on the screen that lets the astronaut know if the vehicle correctly recognised their input. For scenarios where astronauts might need to assume manual control of the normally autonomous craft, such as finishing off a docking sequence with the space station, the touchscreen controls are "much more than adequate", Hurley adds. Behnken explains: "It just might not be the same thing you'd want to use if you were suited up and trying to fly an entry or descent, for example, like we could do with the space shuttle." ![SpaceX Crew-1 flight astronauts](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX The crew of the first operational flight to the ISS pose for pictures in their suits 'A suit-seat system' The space suits worn by astronauts have been one of the bigger talking points about Crew Dragon. [The sleek, customised outfits](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52787365) contrast with previous designs. But their main purpose remains the same: to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule. "The suit is really one part of the bigger Dragon system... we think of it as a suit-seat system," says Chris Trigg, space suits and crew equipment manager at SpaceX. Crew Dragon has three different seat sizes, with foam that's moulded around the astronaut's body to make the journey to and from space as comfortable as possible. When the astronaut gets ready to strap in, they plug an "umbilical" line from their seat into a port on the right thigh of their space suit. The umbilical provides the suit with life support systems, including air and electrical connections. ![SpaceX Crew Dragon](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)SpaceX Artwork: The Crew Dragon has an innovative abort system if there's a problem during lift-off Getting to orbit The Crew Dragon lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that's been adapted for astronauts. In the event of an emergency on the pad or during the climb to orbit, the launch escape system will fire to propel the capsule and its crew away from the rocket. Parachutes are then deployed to bring the astronauts down safely. Commenting on the LES, Doug Hurley says: "That perspective for me is huge compared to shuttle, where there were what we call 'black zones'... scenarios where it didn't really matter if you had the right combination of failures, you were likely not going to survive." "Go Nasa, go SpaceX. God speed Bob and Doug" Hurley adds that the capsule design is safer than a winged vehicle under most circumstances. Crew Dragon is also designed to be "two-fault tolerant". This means that any two things can fail, such as a flight computer and a thruster, and the spacecraft can still bring the crew home safely. During missions to the ISS, the SpaceX vehicle docks with the orbiting outpost autonomously - that is, without having to be guided in by a human. Jessica Jensen, director of Starship mission hardware and operation at SpaceX, says: "We have GPS sensors on Dragon, but also cameras and imaging sensors such as Lidar (laser ranging) on the nosecone as it's approaching the space station. ![NASA / EPA Crew Dragon docking to the ISS](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA / EPA Crew Dragon is able to dock autonomously to the ISS "All these sensors are feeding data back to our flight computer to say: 'Hey, how far away am I from the space station? What's my relative velocity to the space station?'" The flight computer then uses algorithms that determine - based on this information - how to fire the thrusters to most effectively get to the docking target. The vehicle's lifetime in orbit is limited to a few months because of its solar panels, which degrade in the harsh environment of space. ![The return](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp) Leaving for home When astronauts are ready to return home from the space station, Crew Dragon first undocks and then performs a de-orbit burn with its thrusters. The vehicle's heat shield, located at its base, must survive temperatures hotter than the surface of the Sun as the craft screams through the atmosphere at up to 25 times the speed of sound. The material used in the heat shield is ablative: it slowly burns away at high temperatures to carry away much of the extreme heat. "Thank you for flying SpaceX" - Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken return to Earth There's a minor chance that the spacecraft's asymmetric design - driven by the placement of its emergency escape system - could cause it to roll too much. Elon Musk has said that the issue, known as roll instability, has been extensively studied, but that it still worries him. "I think there's an argument that the return is more dangerous in some ways than the ascent," Musk says. Then, after the fiery re-entry phase, the spacecraft needs to deploy four parachutes to slow its descent. ![NASA/Bill Ingalls Dragon capsule](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0hq72jn.png.webp)NASA/Bill Ingalls Finally, the Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, 450km off the coast of Florida, where recovery ships will take the astronauts to safety and retrieve the capsule. The spacecraft can then be refurbished. Nasa has agreed to let astronauts fly on re-used Crew Dragons - and Falcon 9 boosters - as soon as SpaceX completes its third launch to the ISS with humans.
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