This booster is particularly important because SpaceX intends to use it for its next flight with astronauts, the Crew-2 mission, now scheduled for the spring of 2021. That would mark the first time NASA allowed a flight of crew to launch on a booster that had flown previously. “We’re transitioning from a test flight to operational flights,” Bridenstine said Sunday during a ceremony to welcome the astronauts to the Kennedy Space Center. “Make no mistake, every flight is a test flight when it comes to space travel. After the test flight, SpaceX also noticed a little more erosion than expected on the capsule’s heat shield, which protects the astronauts as they fly back to Earth through the atmosphere.

Source: Washington Post November 13, 2020 20:41 UTC