SpaceX Releases ISS Docking Simulator Ahead Of First US Astronaut Launch In 9 Years
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Ahead of the first astronaut mission from U.S. soil in nearly a decade, Hawthorne-based SpaceX has created a docking simulator that gives you an idea of what it might be like to be an astronaut trying to dock a spacecraft onto the International Space Station.
The simulator, which was posted to the SpaceX website Tuesday, places you in the cockpit of the Dragon 2 vehicle, with your job to dock the vehicle on the ISS.
The simulator uses the exact interface that astronauts aboard the Dragon 2 would really use to manually dock.
It was released a few weeks before SpaceX's first ever crewed mission – carrying two astronauts – is scheduled to launch to the ISS on May 27 from Florida. The astronauts will be aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 rocket.
This will mark the first launch of astronauts from U.S. soil since 2011.
Last week, NASA and SpaceX also confirmed that Tom Cruise is planning to shoot a movie on the ISS.