SpaceX Crew Dragon

Question 1

Why in news?

Answer 1

• a spacecraft, Crew Dragon, built by SpaceX has successfully carried astronauts of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the International Space Station.
• SpaceX became the first private company to launch people (human spaceflight) into orbit, a feat achieved by the US, Russia & China.

Question 2

What is crew dragon?

Answer 2

• It is a part of the Dragon 2, a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX.
• It is the fifth class of US spacecraft to take human beings into orbit, after the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
• The rocket, named Falcon 9, which carried the spaceship into the orbit, was also built by SpaceX.
• It is done under the Demo-2 Mission of NASA and SpaceX.

Question 3

What is the airlock module?

Answer 3

Dragon-2 spacecraft carries both payloads for scientific experiments and also commercially owned and operated ‘airlock’, ‘airlock’ is a doorway built by a Texas-based company, it is an upgrade over what was used previously , will enable larger payloads to move in and out of the spacecraft.