Pattonville and Washington University Alum Robert Behnken Lands at International Space Station after Historic Launch

St. Louis’ own NASA astronaut, Robert Behnken, along with fellow astronaut Douglas Hurley have joined Expedition 63 commander and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station.

Behnken, an alum of Pattonville High School and Washington University, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights, with six spacewalks to his credit.

Inside the suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley don their spacesuits ahead of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 launch on May 30.  NASA/Kim Shiflett

The two astronauts docked to the space station’s Harmony on Sunday morning after Saturday’s historic launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first commercially built and operated American spacecraft to carry humans to orbit.

The Crew Dragon’s nose cone is open, revealing the spacecraft’s docking mechanism that would connect to the Harmony module’s forward International Docking Adapter.  Photo by Chris Cassidy

This flight, known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, is a test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, and will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Liftoff occurred at 3:22 p.m. EDT.