Who commanded SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission, the first crewed orbital test flight?

Douglas Hurley commanded SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission, the first crewed orbital test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Demo-2 launched on May 30, 2020, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying Hurley and NASA astronaut Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. The mission marked the first crewed orbital launch from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.

Hurley was an experienced NASA astronaut and former U.S. Marine Corps pilot. Before Demo-2, he flew on Space Shuttle missions STS-127 and STS-135, the final shuttle mission. Behnken served as the mission’s joint pilot and flight systems specialist.

The spacecraft docked with the station on May 31 and returned to Earth on August 2, 2020. Demo-2 validated SpaceX’s crewed transportation system for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and paved the way for regular Crew Dragon missions.