SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Capsule Swaps Docking Ports Here is All to Know

In the home stretch of nearly a year and a half on the International Space Station, four astronomers suited up their gears and rode their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon Resilient spacecraft. The spacecraft rode to a new docking port outside the orbiting research lab on Monday.  It is one of a kind maneuver that is launching its way for the new generation of new commercial crew spaceships.

Commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker suited up in their SpaceX-made pressure garments and boarded their Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft early Monday. The four astronomers entitled to cover the home stretch, which also acted as their lifeboat in case problems prevented the spacecraft to revert back to the space station.

The relocation would take place in such a case, maneuvering an Early exit from the mission and a roundabout back to the Earth’s surface. The closing hatches between their capsule and the space station caused the spacecraft to change its route to a different dock port. The capsule detached from the forward docking port on the space station’s Harmony module at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT) and fired its Draco thrusters to back away to a range of more than 200 feet, or 60 meters.

Dragon’s laser navigation system ensured all the systems intact are in good shape and reiterated its signals to the space station. Following the assurance, the mission control gave the green signal for Commander Hopkins to go ahead with the mission. Hopkins got the direction to send a command to the spacecraft to reposition itself to an approach corridor above the complex. The Crew Dragon Resilient Spacecraft performed the maneuver in autopilot mode.