It might be the most high-profile, if not also the highest game of "capture the flag" ever played, but unbeknownst to many, the flag waiting to be captured by SpaceX's soon-to-be-launched first astronaut crew was briefly lost in space.
Soon after NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrive on board the International Space Station later this month, they will claim a small American flag as a symbol of their success. The stars and stripes banner, which was left on the orbiting laboratory by the crew of NASA's final space shuttle mission in 2011, will be SpaceX's prize for becoming the first U.S. commercial company to launch U.S. astronauts on a U.S. rocket from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.
thisismills Member
Posts: 326 From: Michigan Registered: Mar 2012
posted 05-31-2020 10:10 AM
During the live coverage today, a view of the flag attached to the ISS hatch as Chris Cassidy opened it in preparation for welcoming the DM-2 crew.
thisismills Member
Posts: 326 From: Michigan Registered: Mar 2012
posted 05-31-2020 10:44 AM
A few additional shots showing the flag.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 44178 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
Just one day after riding SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Endeavour" to a historic docking with the International Space Station, spacecraft commander Doug Hurley held out a small American flag for the company behind his and fellow NASA astronaut Bob Behnken's arrival at the orbiting complex.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 44178 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-04-2020 09:23 AM
The flag is featured in the Expedition 63 crew's Fourth of July message: