Robert Louis "Bob" Behnken is a United States Air Force officer, retired NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken holds a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and holds the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Col. Behnken has logged over 1,000 flight hours in 25 different aircraft. He flew aboard Space Shuttle missions STS-123 and STS-130 as a Mission Specialist, accumulating over 378 hours in space, including 19 hours of spacewalk time. Behnken was also assigned as Mission Specialist 1 to the STS-400 rescue mission. He is married to fellow astronaut K. Megan McArthur.
STS-123 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. STS-123 was the 1J/A ISS assembly mission. The original launch target date was 14 February 2008 but after the delay of STS-122, the shuttle was launched on 11 March 2008. It was the twenty-fifth shuttle mission to visit the ISS, and delivered the first module of the Japanese laboratory, Japanese Experiment Module (KibÅ), and the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, (SPDM) Dextre robotics system to the station.
Low Earth OrbitSTS-130 was an ISS assembly flight with the primary payloads being the Tranquility module and the Cupola observatory. The mission began on February 8th 2010 at 09:14 UTC launching Commander George D. Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts, Mission Specialist 1 Kathryn P. Hire, Mission Specialist 2 Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist 3 Nicholas Patrick & Mission Specialist 4 Robert L. Behnken to orbit. They docked with the ISS 2 days after launch. During the mission 3 spacewalks were conducted to install the Tranquility module. On day 6, the wake-up song played to the ISS crew was "The Ballad of Serenity" by Sonny Rhodes, the theme for science fiction show Firefly, and was played for Robert Behnken. The mission concluded after 13 days & 18 hours on February 22nd 2010 at 03:22:10 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitA new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil. The Demo-2 mission is the second test flight of Crew Dragon, and the first flight with crew onboard. It will carry NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station for an extended stay (the specific mission duration will be determined once on station based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch). They will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew. As the final flight test for SpaceX, this mission will validate the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities. This also will be the first time NASA astronauts will test the spacecraft systems in orbit. The Demo-2 mission will be the final major step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. Current Mission Status: After a successful ride to orbit and stay at the International Space Station, the Dragon Spacecraft successfully made its way back to Earth. Capsule successfully landed in the Gulf of Mexico waters on 3rd August 2020 at 18:48 UTC.
Low Earth Orbit #LaunchAmerica B1058 - Maiden Flight Of Course I Still Love YouThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.