Ohio NASA employees play key role in historic SpaceX launch’
SANDUSKY, Ohio (WJW) – More than 900 miles from Cape Canaveral, employees at NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station test facility in Sandusky are celebrating their role in the historic SpaceX launch.
SpaceX will attempt to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station Wednesday afternoon in a mission called Demo-2.
NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station test facility in Sandusky completed thermal vacuum and acoustic tests on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft used for Demo-1, which was an uncrewed flight to the ISS in March 2019.
The testing at Plum Brook allowed SpaceX and NASA to verify Crew Dragon’s ability to withstand the extreme conditions of space.
This marks the first time the U.S. has launched its own astronauts into space since 2011 when the Space Shuttle Program ended.
Veteran astronauts Robert Behnken, 49, and Douglas Hurley, 53, are scheduled to fly the Crew Dragon capsule.
Liftoff is scheduled for 4:33 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center.
If the launch is scrubbed, NASA has set May 30 and 31 as possible backup days.
NASA Glenn also worked with University of Akron, University of Toledo, the Ohio Space Institute, Vantage Partners, and Parker Hannifin to develop spacecraft seals used on Crew Dragon that will help it connect to the International Space Station.