--- title: "Watch NASA Astronauts Take SpaceX Spacecraft for a Joyride" description: "Four current crew members on board the ISS took SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft nicknamed Resilience for a spin early Monday morning." date: "2021-04-05" modified: "2021-04-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronauts-spacex-spacecraft-joyride" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "crew dragon" - "international space station" - "iss" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Watch NASA Astronauts Take SpaceX Spacecraft for a Joyride ![Four current crew members on board the ISS took SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft nicknamed Resilience for a spin early Monday morning.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Port Relocation Four current crew members on the International Space Station took SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, nicknamed Resilience, for a spin early Monday morning. The team, comprised of NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, departed from one docking port of the ISS to relocate to a different dock to prepare for an upcoming new crew arrival and the delivery of a new solar array for the station. https://youtu.be/cDyhqqKWDg0 ## Traffic Jam Resilience was moved from international docking adapter 2 (IDA-2) to IDA-3, on the opposite side of the station. The dock relocation took a swift 38 minutes. Resilience effortlessly backed away from the station at around 3:30 am CST, to about 180 feet away. Its Draco thrusters then carried the four astronauts to IDA-3 on the Harmony module, the station's internal connecting port and passageway to other labs and cargo ports. ## Making Space for Crew 2 In just a matter of weeks, the next Crew Dragon mission will carry large solar panels [in addition to a crew of four]() to the station. Once it arrives at the station, a large robotic arm will grab the panels for installation. The robotic arm is only able to reach as far as IDA-2, forcing Resilience to relocate to a different docking port, as [*Ars Technica* reports](). The mission, dubbed Crew-2, is slated to launch as soon as April 22, when it will [be the first time]() a crew will fly to the International Space Station on board a reused Crew Dragon spacecraft. The vehicle, dubbed Endeavour, [previously carried]() NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Boehnken to the station last year as part of the [first crewed mission]() of SpaceX's passenger spacecraft. **READ MORE:** [Four astronauts took a Dragon for a spin on Monday morning]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on SpaceX's spacecraft:** [Crew Dragon Will Feature Massive Glass Dome]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()