The Vice President of the United States and Chairman of the National Space Council will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the astronauts responsible for the first crewed Dragon test flight. All social media channels and NASA TV will also broadcast the event live. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor will be awarded to Douglas and Robert Behnken.
It will be broadcast live on social media and NASA TV. Awards were given posthumously to 14 astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle disaster and three NASA astronauts who died in the Apollo 1 crash. Behnken and Hurley were selected for the award based on recommendations from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Behnken and Hurley have had brilliant careers in the US military and NASA, and it's hard to imagine a pair of astronauts more deserving of closing the 16-year gap since the last Space Medal of Honor was awarded. Bob Behnken joined the US Air Force as chief flight test engineer after earning his PhD in mechanical engineering from Caltech in 1997. He piloted two Space Shuttle missions in 2008 and 2010. Behnken was appointed head of NASA's prestigious Astronaut Office in 2012 and held the position for three years before beginning preparations for the Commercial Crew Program.
He flew the F/A-1997 for three missions before becoming a Naval Test Pilot in 18. He became the first Navy pilot to do so using the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. It has participated in two Space Shuttle missions, including the Shuttle's 2011th and final mission in 135. Hurley and Behnken were tasked with working on the Dragon Demo-2.
Musk speaking to Behnken. Musk, Behnken, Hurley, and NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine examine Falcon 9 and Dragon. Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken launched the Demo-2. Hurley and Behnken Crew are included in Dragon.
Hurley and Behnken returned to Earth. After fully recovered, Behnken and Hurley pose for the photo. Bob and Doug were responsible for the first Crew Dragon test flight.
The duo worked for the company for a long time before performing the company's historic astronaut launch.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made history on May 30, 2020 as the first NASA astronauts to be launched from American soil since the Space Shuttle. NASA increased the minimum duration of the demo-2 flight from one hour to an hour and a half because it was so confident in Crew Dragon's performance. Behnken and Hurley were safely brought back to Earth after spending two months in space thanks to Crew Dragon, which successfully re-entered Earth's atmosphere, released its parachutes, and landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Immediately after the successful test flight, NASA certified the Dragon.
Less than four months later, NASA launched the first real astronaut ferry ride.
More than two years later, Boeing's Starliner is still unconfirmed, and Crew Dragon is the only spacecraft capable of supporting the presence of NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The intended launch date for the Crew 6 mission is no later than February 26. The importance of Crew Dragon to NASA cannot be overstated.
Behnken and Hurley's work and the risks they took have enabled NASA and SpaceX to take advantage of Crew Dragon's critical capabilities. If one of the astronauts had made a mistake on Dragon's demo-2 test flight, the state of US manned spaceflight might not have been as good as it is now.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley left NASA in 2021 and 2022, respectively, to usher in a new era of commercial human spaceflight.
The 29th and 30th Congressional Space Medals of Honor will be awarded to them.
Günceleme: 31/01/2023 19:19
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