When American astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrive at the International Space Station this week, they will find an unusual message waiting for them. On the inside of the hatch where their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock, a small stars and stripes flag has been sealed in a plastic bag with a cryptic message attached. “Flown on STS-1 and STS-135. Only to be removed by a crew launched from KSC.”

It sounds enigmatic but the meaning is straightforward. The flag, which measures 8 inches by 12 inches, was flown on board the first space shuttle mission (STS-1) in 1981. And it was carried aloft in 2011 when the shuttle Atlantis rendezvoused with the space station on the last shuttle mission (STS-135). KSC simply stands for the Kennedy Space Centre.

Departing astronauts on Atlantis had left the flag and message before flying their craft back to the US, where it was grounded with the other remaining shuttle craft in the wake of the Challenger and Columbia tragedies. Only when Americans returned – in a new fleet of their own spaceships – was that flag to be brought back to Earth, it was decreed.

Now that moment is about to arrive. After a gap of nine years, during which US astronauts have had to undergo the ignominy of hitching rides to the space station in Russia’s cramped Soyuz space capsules, American men and women are set to return to orbit in their own craft – in this case, Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship.

It will be a triumphant moment for America as it enters a new stage in its often troubled manned space programme. Crewed spaceflights into low Earth orbit will now be taken over by private businesses which have already been ferrying supplies to the space station. To date, only the governments of America, Russia and China have been able to mount manned space programmes. Now US business is taking a lead.

Apart from the involvement of Musk’s SpaceX company, the aerospace giant Boeing has also built its own spaceship, Starliner, and later this year it also plans to ferry astronauts to the space station. On the sidelines, companies such as Blue Origin, founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Virgin Orbit, founded by Richard Branson, and several other companies are also working on their own commercial space plans.

It has not been an easy task, however. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launcher – which will ferry Crew Dragon into space – broke apart once in flight and once during a ground test. Boeing suffered numerous software failures during test missions of its Starliner, and only flew in space, uncrewed, last December. Commercial launches were planned for 2017 but are only now set to take place.

Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon are now standing at Kennedy’s launch pad 39A and should lift off for the space station on Wednesday. Should the mission be scrapped at the last minute, however, Boeing’s Starliner spaceship will then have the chance to become the first manned commercial spaceship.

And thereby hangs a tale. Starliner will be commanded by Charles Ferguson, who was commander of Atlantis on its last mission, and who was involved in leaving the flag and message on the space station hatch.

Intriguingly, on that mission he was accompanied by Doug Hurley, who is now the commander of Crew Dragon. Both men have remained in the US manned space programme and are rivals to bring back the flag, with Hurley in pole position. Ferguson remains unflustered. “Regardless of who might get there first, it’s a win for America,” he says.

Hopefully, before I turn 55, Biafra will launch its first Manned space module on a rocket nicknamed Ikenga.

My company (Blue Chimera Space Ventures) would do that and the Space module would be nicknamed Ajax Ceasar Biafra

With all these incursions and explorations into deep space I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before we discovery any intelligent life out there, or they discover us.

DanseMacabre:
With all these incursions and explorations into deep space I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before we discovery any intelligent life out there, or they discover us.

Discovering intelligent light in near earth orbit is pretty low. Do you ever consider the possibility of us introducing earth life ( viruses, bacteria) into space, and they undergoing mutations in to something monstrous?

nijabazaar:


Discovering intelligent light in near earth orbit is pretty low. Do you ever consider the possibility of us introducing earth life ( viruses, bacteria) into space, and they undergoing mutations in to something monstrous?

At the bolded, why do you think so Assuming there is intelligent life, that is...


And meeennn, such a scenario you posit is quite possible and really scary to think of oooo

America always lead despite russia being the first at it. When will Nigeria launch theirs?

FlordFlorez:
America always lead despite russia being the first at it. When will Nigeria launch theirs?

Russia lead in space

Nice, while we are still battling to get stable etricicty and water, people who are serious are thinking of exploring space

joshjc:
Russia lead in space

they led in the past. America takes over now.

FlordFlorez:
they led in the past. America takes over now.

no they don't, from the write up, you could see American astrounot had to go to Russia

joshjc:
no they don't, from the write up, you could see American astrounot had to go to Russia

but now they own theirs

FlordFlorez:
but now they own theirs

yea, but why are they exploring space?

joshjc:
yea, but why are they exploring space?

alot bro. Whatever happens to the space affects us.

FlordFlorez:
America always lead despite russia being the first at it. When will Nigeria launch theirs?

This shows that you know nothing about space technology . Till Jesus comes American is still far behind Russia in space technology.

The only vehicle that can transport cosmonaut and cargo ships to international space station is mother Russia SOYUZ

nijabazaar:
Hopefully, before I turn 55, Biafra will launch its first Manned space module on a rocket nicknamed Ikenga.

My company (Blue Chimera Space Ventures) would do that and the Space module would be nicknamed Ajax Ceasar Biafra

why not name d rocket ikemefuna.....keep allowing KANU to defraud u people with his useless propaganda.... Ikenga ni ikenga ko

rowland545:
why not name d rocket ikemefuna.....keep allowing KANU to defraud u people with his useless propaganda.... Ikenga ni ikenga ko

It's my space module, not yours.

And what the fvxk is ni and ko?

nijabazaar:


It's my space module, not yours.

And what the fvxk is ni and ko?

go and ask mazi kanu