Skip to main content

Watch astronaut Bob Behnken’s tour of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

SpaceX performed a perfect launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, May 30. The milestone event marked the first astronaut launch from U.S. soil in nearly a decade, and the first crewed launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.

Recommended Videos

Within just a few hours of beginning their 19-hour journey to the International Space Station — scheduled to arrive at 7:27 a.m. PT on Sunday, May 31 — NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, together with his colleague Doug Hurley, gave space fans watching a livestream of the historic mission a quick look around the Crew Dragon.

Tour from Space: Inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft on Its Way to the Space Station

Pointing out the Crew Dragon’s three touchscreens, Behnken described the interior of the capsule as “a lot different” from the Space Shuttle, which had thousands of switches and buttons, as well as numerous displays.

Hurley and Behnken will use the capsule’s touchscreens to monitor the automatic docking procedure with the ISS, though the screens will also play an important role if there’s a problem as the spacecraft approaches the space station and the astronauts have to take over to perform the maneuver manually.

Behnken left his seat to show us more of the interior of the capsule, including the entry hatch and four windows.

“We each have a window that we can view out to see what’s going on outside,” the astronaut said. “That was exciting on ascent for us to be able to see the arm rotate away from the pad, and that’s when we both knew we were going to launch today.”

Behnken said he’d received a request to do a backflip to demonstrate the zero gravity inside the Crew Dragon, though the tightness of the space meant he had to settle for a “side spin” instead.

Oh, and also check out the “stowaway” that managed to join the two astronauts on the trip to the ISS.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX to top the Super Heavy catch with another astonishing feat
The Starship spacecraft.

SpaceX achieved a spectacular first on Sunday when it used a pair of giant mechanical arms to catch the 70-meter-tall Super Heavy booster just minutes after it deployed the Starship spacecraft to orbit in the vehicle’s fifth test flight.

But SpaceX isn’t stopping there. As part of its efforts to create a fully reusable spaceflight system for the Starship -- comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft -- SpaceX will attempt to catch not only the booster, but also the spacecraft.

Read more
SpaceX shares spectacular close-up footage of Starship launch and landing
The Starship launching from Starbase in October 2024.

SpaceX has shared footage, which you can watch below, showing a spectacular close-up view of the Starship’s launch and landing on Sunday.

The mission involved the fifth test flight of the Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship spacecraft.

Read more
SpaceX just caught a huge rocket booster for the first time. Now what?
Mechazilla catching Starship booster stage.

It was an astonishing spectacle. A 70-meter-tall SpaceX rocket performing a controlled descent toward a tiny target where two giant mechanical arms were waiting to clasp it just meters above the ground.

Sunday’s bold effort was SpaceX’s first try at “catching” the Super Heavy booster, and to many people’s surprise, it nailed it.

Read more