'Return to Space': Elon Musk’s SpaceX Brings NASA’s Doug Harley and Bob Behnken to ISS

Netflix's new documentary, "Return to Space," stars SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk.

This Netflix documentary marks the two-year anniversary of America's triumphant return to crewed spaceflight on the International Space Station.

In the documentary "Return To Space," Elon Musk and his entire SpaceX team chronicle their achievements as they prepare to launch a historic NASA mission on May 30, 2020, to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station from American soil after nine years.

The first crewed SpaceX mission is called Demo-2, which was designed to transport NASA veteran astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to orbit for approximately two months.

Netflix's Return to Space by Elon Musk

Netflix's "Return to Space" is a documentary that follows Demonstration Mission 2, or Demo 2, of SpaceX in 2020. SpaceX, after numerous years of attempting to build a reusable rocket, has successfully built Falcon 9 to the perfection they desire.

It can be seen in the documentary that SpaceX came from humble beginnings. SpaceX spent four years building its first Falcon rocket, but after test-launching Falcon 1, the rocket exploded into pieces, shattering the spacecraft after four years of effort spent on building it.

SpaceX not only failed once but also failed consecutively, exploding three space rockets. The first thing the host says is that Demo-2 is the last thing that NASA needs to do to make sure that SpaceX can send people to the International Space Station on a regular basis.

NASA Astronaut Doug Hurley

NASA astronauts boarded the Crew Dragon of SpaceX, one of whom is astronaut Doug Harley. In the year 2000, Douglas G. Hurley was selected to be an astronaut for NASA.

Hurley served as the spacecraft commander on the first crewed mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which launched on May 30, 2020, and safely returned to Earth on August 2, 2020. This explains the highlight of Hurley in the Return to Space documentary.

Return to Space: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Brings NASA’s Doug Harley and Bob Behnken to ISS
(Photo : Photo from NASA's Official Website)
NASA astronauts Doug Harley

This mission heralded the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight, with crewed missions to the International Space Station launched from American soil on commercially built and owned spacecraft for the first time.

Hurley graduated with honors from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Prior to joining NASA, he served in the United States Marine Corps as a fighter pilot and test pilot.

Apparently, Doug Hurley is now a retired NASA astronaut. Doug Hurley recently announced his retirement from NASA after 21 years of service. According to NASA, his last day with the company was July 16, 2021. Hurley retired after having been in space for a total of 93 days at this point.

Read Also: #SpaceSnap: NASA Perseverance Rover Looks Back at Wheel Tracks

NASA Astronaut Bob Behnken

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken is another crew member among the spaceflights featured in the documentary.

Both Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were selected as astronauts by NASA in 2000. "Return to Space" describes Behnken as a brilliant mechanical engineer.

It was after the space shuttle Columbia broke apart that Colonel Behnken trained on how to be a member of the International Space Station crew. He also worked on the last Hubble servicing mission as a mission specialist on the STS-400 launch-on-need rescue flight.

"Return to Space" will allow viewers to see his recent return journey to the International Space Station, where he participated in the Crew Dragon certification test flight, which was completed by SpaceX.

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken served as a Joint Operations Commander on the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the Demo-2 mission, which can be seen in the documentary.

According to NASA, during his ten spacewalks, he has accumulated a total of 93 days in space and 61 hours of extravehicular activity time. Besides that, he has also done a lot of other things related to human spaceflight, like serving as NASA's Chief Astronaut from 2012 to 2015.

Furthermore, in this documentary, with images of early SpaceX rockets bursting into roiling fireballs, tears of anticipation, and nervous preparation, this documentary shows the behind-the-scenes of the pivotal step in the evolution of commercial spaceflight.

"Return to Space" also shows the unfortunate disasters that have been experienced throughout the years, such as the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Space Shuttle Columbia.

This documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in space travel, astronomy, science, and STEM enthusiasts. It also gives a close-up look at the SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft, as well as a list of fun pre-launch superstitions.

 

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