Crew-2 Mission

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    Four astronauts were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida as part of a collaboration between NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program. 

    Previous Missions

    •  Demo-2 test flight lifted
      • In May 2020, NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight lifted off for the ISS carrying astronauts.
      • The aim of this test flight was to see if SpaceX capsules could be used on a regular basis to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. 
    • Crew-1 mission 
      • Demo-2 was followed by the Crew-1 mission, which was the first of six crewed missions between NASA and SpaceX marking the beginning of a new era for space travel.
      • Crew-1 team members joined members of Expedition 64(Expedition 64 was the 64th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station) and conducted microgravity studies at the ISS. 
      • The crew carried some of the research with themselves including materials to investigate food physiology meant to study the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and how those improvements can help crews adapt to spaceflight.

    About the Crew-2  Mission 

    • It is the second crew rotation of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with international partners.
    •  Crew-2 astronauts will join the members of Expedition 65. 
      • They will stay aboard the ISS for six months during which time they will conduct science experiments in low-Earth orbit.
    • The focus of Mission –Their central focus during this time will be to continue a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies. 
    Tissue Chips

    • Tissue Chips are small models of human organs that contain multiple cell types that behave similarly to the human body. 
    • These chips can potentially speed up the process of identifying safe and effective drugs and vaccines.
    • “In addition, many changes occurring in the human body during spaceflight resemble the onset and progression of ageing and diseases on Earth but occur much more quickly in microgravity,” 
    • Therefore, scientists can use these tissue chips in space to study diseases that affect specific human organs, which would take months or years to develop on Earth.

    What is the Commercial Crew Program?

    • It is a project in which NASA is working with business partners to build rockets and spacecraft. The goal of CCP is to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS from the United States.
    • It means NASA no longer has to rely only on Russia to take American astronauts to the space station. 
    • Objectives: To make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research. 
      • NASA plans to lower its costs by sharing them with commercial partners such as Boeing and SpaceX, and also give the companies incentive to design and build the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS).
      • By encouraging private companies to provide crew transportation services NASA can focus on building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space. exploration missions.
        • Boeing and SpaceX were selected by NASA in September 2014 to develop transportation systems meant to transfer crew from the US to the ISS. 
        • But later, SpaceX won the race against Boeing to send NASA astronauts to space

    Source :IE

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