HOUSTON -- (May 22, 2020) – The Crew Dragon space capsule made by Elon Musk's SpaceX faces a final big test when two astronauts climb aboard for a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
"This historic first launch of American astronauts from American soil since 2011 will mark the next stage in U.S. human spaceflight, paving the way for a more versatile and flexible access to the International Space Station," said astronomer David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute. He is available to discuss the May 27 launch with the news media.
"A robust and reliable commercial crew transportation system will remove our reliance on the Russian Soyuz and provide lower-cost operations to low-Earth orbit as NASA expands to the moon and on to Mars," Alexander said.
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To schedule an interview with Alexander or for more information, contact Jeff Falk, director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.
Related materials:
Alexander bio: https://physics.rice.edu/people/david-alexander
Rice Space Institute: https://rsi.rice.edu
Follow Alexander via Twitter @solar_da.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.