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NASA picks diverse astronaut roster for SpaceX Crew Dragon 2021 mission
With Demo-2, the final certification test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule nearing completion, NASA is looking ahead to future operational crewed missions. NASA previously announced that following NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley’s successful return from the International Space Station (ISS) in early August, three NASA astronauts and one Japanese astronaut of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would soon be following on their own flight to the Space Station, SpaceX’s first operational crewed flight known as “Crew-1.” This mission is tentatively scheduled to occur no earlier than Fall of 2020.
Just days ahead of Demo-2’s anticipated conclusion, NASA, along with its international partners, has announced the roster and date of SpaceX’s third operational crewed mission referred to as “Crew-2.” Like Crew-1, the Crew-2 mission will feature a diverse international roster of four astronauts. Onboard will be veteran flyers, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, along with JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Should everything go as planned with Crew-1, Crew Dragon’s third operational crewed flight, Crew-2, is scheduled for liftoff no earlier than the Spring of 2021.
NASA keeps it in the family
One Crew-2 participant stands out from the rest, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. She is a veteran NASA flyer having previously flown aboard the STS-125 space shuttle Atlantis mission in May of 2009. Although Crew-2 will be her second time to orbit, it will be her first visit to the ISS. During her first mission, she spent her time in orbit serving as a Mission Specialist servicing NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. In 2019 she was appointed as NASA’s Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office ISS Operations Branch, a role in which she provides support to astronauts in training and aboard the ISS.
Not only is McArthur an experienced space flyer and well-versed in mission support, but she is also married to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken. While Behnken served as Joint Operations Commander for Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 mission, McArthur was back at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA training for her own Crew Dragon mission to the ISS.
https://twitter.com/Astro_Megan/status/1288203342250901504
McArthur was joined by her NASA and international partners Crew-2 crewmates to train at the SpaceX facility utilizing the Crew Dragon simulator. According to an interview with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the entire crew has been at various training facilities located in Texas and California presumably for weeks familiarizing themselves with Crew Dragon and ISS specific training, just as Behnken and Hurley did prior to their Demo-2 departure.
Looks like I'll be the first European to ever ride a Dragon into space! Training has already started at SpaceX's futuristic facilities. Stay tuned for more updates… and wait, how do you install the "launch" app on these giant tablet-screens? ๐ ๐๐ pic.twitter.com/wD7zOf7EAl
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) July 28, 2020
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Commercial and international crew will bring the ISS to full capacity
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough will fly for his third trip to orbit after having previously flown aboard space shuttle Endeavour for STS-126 and aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for Expedition 49/50 in 2016. Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will be the second JAXA astronaut to fly aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon following Soichi Noguchiย on Crew-1. ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will be the first European to fly aboard the Crew Dragon. It will be his second mission to orbit following a six-month-long stay aboard the ISS in 2016.
The 2021 Crew-2 mission will increase the number of ISS occupants from six to a full complement of seven. Crew-2’s four Dragon Riders will be joined by a three-member crew set to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The increase of long-duration crew members will allow NASA to “effectively double the amount of science that can be conducted in space,” as stated in an official NASA Commercial Crew blog post. The Crew-2 astronauts are expected to stay aboard the orbiting outpost for six months.
Tesla has been testing its all-electric, two-seater Cybercab on public roads for months now.
Nearly two years after its unveiling, the Cybercab has been seen by perhaps tens of thousands as the company has expanded testing to a handful of states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and New York, among several others.
However, nobody has seen one like this quite yet.
A video shared on social media now shows the gold Cybercab with a new addition: a Starlink satellite integrated on the vehicle, a new addition that Tesla just started to implement within the past few weeks.
@lottaherm More cybercabs being spotted now with Starlink integrated ๐ #cybercab #tesla #elonmusk #houston #htx โฌ original sound – ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐น๐น๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ข๐๐น๐|๐
Just a week ago, Tesla announced that it had built its first Cybercab with Starlink integration and showed it off at Gigafactory Texas. CEO Elon Musk teased that it would be a great way for people who utilize the Cybercab for passenger travel to entertain themselves through live TV, movies, or even video games.
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said it is also a huge advantage for Tesla as it will enable constant connectivity between the company and the fleet of Cybercabs it has. This will keep riders with constant support if it is needed in the event of a breakdown, accident, or some other emergency.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
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It appears that this particular unit was spotted in Houston, Texas, a location where the company’s Robotaxi platform is already active. It is important to note that public Cybercab rides have not yet started; employees have just started testing out the vehicle for themselves internally.
Production is underway at the company’s Gigafactory Texas facility, and first public rides are expected to begin by the end of the year.
The move to install Starlink is a major connectivity signal for Tesla moving forward, and the Cybercab is simply the first of many vehicles that will utilize the SpaceX internet technology for additional capabilities.
Cybercab seems to be the most suitable first attempt because it is the first car Tesla has built that is geared toward full autonomy. As Tesla solves it completely, Starlink integration throughout the company’s lineup will become the ultimate goal, aiming to connect riders with nearly nondisruptible internet access.
Tesla is building its largest East Coast Supercharger in New York City, planning to bring a 64- to 68-stall station to Queens, New York.
It will end up being tied for the largest Supercharger on the East Coast with this number of stalls. The largest on the Eastern Seaboard is located in Halifax, North Carolina, and is also 68 stalls.
Tesla is currently building a new 64-stall Supercharger station in Queens, New York. This will be the biggest Supercharger station on the East Coast of the U.S.
It will also have two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. Thx for the pics @LetsCleanNYC. pic.twitter.com/CCo0dIoHin
โ Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 16, 2026
The location is also set to be fitted with two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. We’ve seen Tesla implement these types of parking spots at newer locations as EV ownership continues to expand to those who do more than simply drive their cars.
There are plenty of Superchargers in the New York City metro, but they are mostly located in boroughs outside of Manhattan. There are five Superchargers in various neighborhoods of Manhattan, but there are limited plugs; usually only four per location. There are plenty of Destination Chargers in the Big Apple, though.
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Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have become popular locations for companies to build out charging infrastructure for those who live in the highly populated boroughs. There is simply much more real estate to build effective EV charging stations.
The Supercharger will be located in Maspeth, Queens, at 48-26 54th Road. Maspeth has I-495 running through it, so this will be a great location for Tesla owners to hop off the highway on their way to Long Island or to Manhattan to charge up before continuing their journey.
Tesla has done a really great job of expanding its charging footprint throughout the past several years, especially by building large-scale projects that cater to areas that have a high volume of traffic and are main routes of travel to major areas. Tesla is making an effort to make charging less stressful and more widely available in these concentrated regions.
News
SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.
SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-366 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/FFEzeYOds1
โ SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 16, 2026
The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.
USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.
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Tesla starts testing its Starlink-integrated Cybercab on public roads
Tesla is building its largest Supercharger on the East Coast in New York City
