[ MUSIC ]
>> MY NAME IS MEGAN McARTHUR.
I'M THE PILOT.
>> HI, MY NAME IS AKI HOSHIDE,
A MISSION SPECIALIST.
>> MY NAME IS THOMAS PESQUET
AND I'M A MISSION SPECIALIST.
>> MY NAME IS SHANE KIMBROUGH,
COMMANDER OF NASA'S
SPACEX CREW-2 MISSION TO
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
[ MUSIC ]
>> SO, CREW-2 MISSION IS A--
IS A MISSION TO
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
WE'RE GONNA LAUNCH FROM FLORIDA
ON A U.S. DEVELOPED SPACECRAFT
THAT'S CALLED CREW DRAGON
AND IT'S GONNA TAKE US
TO SPACE STATION FOR SIX MONTHS
OF RESEARCH,
OF EXPERIMENTS,
SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS,
AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK
TO-TO EARTH.
>> I LOVE THIS CAPSULE
WE'RE RIDING ON.
IT WAS NAMED ENDEAVOR
ON THE DEMO-2 FLIGHTS.
IT HAS SPECIAL MEANING FOR ME.
I FLEW ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE
ENDEAVOR, SO I'M REALLY EXCITED
TO FLY ON ANOTHER SPACECRAFT
CALLED ENDEAVOR.
IT'S EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT,
I THINK, FOR MEGAN
BECAUSE SHE'S GONNA FLY IN
THE SAME SEAT THAT
HER HUSBAND, BOB, FLEW IN
ON THE SAME SPACECRAFT.
SO THAT'S PRETTY NEAT.
>> IT'S AMAZING TO THINK
THAT I WILL BE SITTING IN
THE SAME SEAT THAT, UH,
THAT BOB WAS SITTING IN
WHEN HE CERTIFIED THAT VEHICLE,
UH, THE VERY FIRST TIME
THAT IT LAUNCHED.
I DON'T THINK I REALIZED THAT,
UM, WHEN I FOUND OUT
THAT I WAS GONNA BE
ASSIGNED TO THE CREW-2 MISSION.
I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS
GONNA BE THE SAME VEHICLE,
BUT THAT CERTAINLY ADDS
A LITTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL
TO THE-- TO THE MISSION.
SO, COMPARING THE CREW DRAGON
WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLE TRAINING,
OBVIOUSLY, THE VEHICLES
HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENCES,
EVEN THOUGH THEIR
GOAL IS THE SAME,
TO GET PEOPLE INTO
LOW EARTH ORBIT.
AND SO, WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLES
BUILT IN THE 1970s, REALLY,
UM, WE HAD A LOT OF SWITCHES.
LIKE, PANELS AND PANELS
OF SWITCHES.
WITH CREW DRAGON,
OF COURSE, WE DON'T HAVE
THOSE PANELS AND PANELS
OF SWITCHES,
WE HAVE A VERY, UM,
CLEAN WALL ENVIRONMENT
AND SOME LARGE TOUCHSCREENS
WHERE WE CAN SWITCH
BETWEEN MONITORING
DIFFERENT SYSTEMS.
WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME
INTERACTION WITH THE VEHICLE,
WE CAN'T SEND AS MANY COMMANDS
TO THE CREW DRAGON
AS WE COULD TO SPACE SHUTTLE,
BUT WE HAVE A TEAM OF
GROUND CONTROLLERS THAT
SEND A LOT OF THOSE COMMANDS
AND ARE MONITORING IN A WAY
THAT WE COULDN'T DO WITH
SPACE SHUTTLES BACK IN THE DAY.
SO, IT'S VERY INTERESTING
TO COMPARE THE TWO VEHICLES
AND THE STYLE OF TRAINING
THAT'S REQUIRED FOR
THE TWO VEHICLES.
>> SO, WE'RE GONNA LAUNCH
FROM CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA.
UH, FALCON 9 ROCKETS,
CREW DRAGON IS OUR
SPACECRAFT ON TOP,
AND IT'S GONNA LAUNCH US
INTO A-- ROUGHLY 200 KILOMETERS
ALTITUDE ORBIT.
AND THEN WE'RE GONNA
CATCH UP WITH THE SPACE STATION,
WE'RE GONNA DO A RENDEZVOUS.
UH, WE'RE GONNA FLY
AROUND THE SPACE STATION
IN A LINE AND THEN DOCK,
UH, OPEN THE HATCHES,
AND THEN WE'LL BE ONBOARD,
AND THAT'S THE MAIN JOB
OF THE CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT,
IT WILL TAKE US FROM
THE INSERTION ORBIT
ALL THE WAY TO
THE SPACE STATION,
UH, IN SAFETY.
>> SO, ONCE WE'RE ONBOARD
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION,
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS--
OUR MAIN TASK IS, UH,
DOING A LOT OF DIFFERENT,
UH, SCIENCE,
WHETHER IT'S, UH,
BIOLOGY, MATERIAL SCIENCE,
FLIGHT MECHANICS.
>> WE'RE JUST GONNA DO
A BUNCH OF NICE RESEARCH
AND SCIENCE, UM,
THAT'S GONNA BENEFIT
ALL OF HUMANITY
OR IT'S GONNA HELP US
WITH FUTURE EXPLORATIONS,
SO THAT'S EXCITING
TO BE PART OF SOMETHING
THAT'S THAT GRAND.
AND WE WILL HAVE SOME
SPACEWALKS PLANNED FOR OUR, UM,
EXPEDITION WHILE WE'RE UP THERE,
SO THAT'LL BE, UH,
SOME GREAT DAYS OUT THERE,
TO GO OUTSIDE.
>> SO, ON THIS FLIGHT,
WE HAVE, UH, AMERICAN,
FRENCH, AND JAPANESE
ASTRONAUTS ONBOARD.
UH, IT'S THE FIRST TIME
THAT YOU HAVE, UH,
THREE DIFFERENT, UH,
NATIONALITIES ON THIS, UH,
CREW DRAGON.
THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION ITSELF
IS, UH, A BIG COLLABORATION
BETWEEN, UH, 15 COUNTRIES.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO DO
A LOT OF INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION.
>> YOU KNOW, NO INDIVIDUAL
PERSON GETS THEMSELVES
INTO SPACE, RIGHT?
IT'S A HUGE EFFORT
THAT-THAT HAPPENS.
BUT IT'S ALSO TRUE
ON THIS GLOBAL LEVEL,
THAT WE HAVE THESE BIG DREAMS
WHERE WE LOOK OUT, YOU KNOW,
TO THE HORIZON
AND-AND THIS DESIRE TO EXPLORE
THE UNIVERSE AROUND US,
AND WE'RE-WE'RE ALWAYS
GOING TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL
WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, UM,
WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
TO ACHIEVE THESE
INCREDIBLE DREAMS.