Does SpaceX use NASA astronauts?

It launched in a new Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom by the crew, and a Falcon 9 booster flying its fourth mission into space. This is the fifth SpaceX flight with NASA astronauts – including the Demo-2 test flight in 2020 to the space station – as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

What is NASA’s Commercial Crew?

The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially-operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program.

Who is on the commercial space flight?

Strapped into a Crew Dragon capsule atop the rocket were Axiom-1 mission commander Michael Lopéz-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut and vice president at the Houston-based company Axiom Space, and his crewmates, Ohio investor Larry Connor, Canadian entrepreneur Mark Pathy and Israeli Eytan Stibbe, a former F-16 fighter …

Does SpaceX have private astronauts?

The 1st private astronaut mission to International Space Station is back on Earth. The SpaceX crew seated in the Dragon spacecraft earlier this month in Cape Canaveral, Fla. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

How is SpaceX different than NASA?

The main difference between SpaceX and NASA is that SpaceX is a privately owned company by Elon Musk that also receives funds from the government. While NASA is owned by the US government. Both infrastructures are associated with space and spacecraft.

What is a commercial space pilot?

A commercial astronaut is a person who has commanded, piloted, or served as an active crew member of a privately funded spacecraft.

How do astronauts get to the ISS?

Typically, astronauts travel to the space station via a Russian Soyuz capsule (first launched in 1967), which has long been the only spacecraft that ferries people to the ISS, since NASA’s space shuttle programme retired in 2011.