Limited edition, employee-only, SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 display (No. 1153 of 2000), commemorating the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft "Endeavor." The framed presentation includes an official SpaceX DM-2 patch above a flown swath of Endeavor's main parachute, featuring the SpaceX logo in grey.
This mission—known as Demo-2 or DM-2—marked the beginning of a new era for the U.S. space enterprise. Not only was it the first human spaceflight to launch from American soil in nearly a decade, but it also marked the first time that a commercial space company provided the vehicle used to send astronauts into orbit and return them to Earth.
The spacecraft, named Endeavour, launched on 30 May 2020 at 19:22:45 UTC (3:22:45 PM EDT) on top of Falcon 9 Booster B1058.1 and carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station. The spacecraft soft docked with the International Space Station at 14:16 UTC on 31 May 2020. Hurley and Behnken worked alongside the crew of Expedition 63 for 62 days. Endeavor autonomously undocked from the station at 23:35 UTC on 1 August 2020 and returned the astronauts to Earth on 2 August 2020.
Of note, a critical demonstration was the first atmospheric reentry of SpaceX's new Mark 3 parachutes, designed especially for use during crewed missions. The original Mark 2 parachutes worked flawlessly on SpaceX's uncrewed DM-1 in March 2019. However, on 11 October 2019, during an update on Dragon 2, Jim Bridenstine and Elon Musk announced that SpaceX was redesigning the parachute system. After reviewing DM-1's post-flight data, SpaceX found that the risers were experiencing more force than the models predicted. This forced them to reinforce the risers, which would increase their volume and weight. To compensate, SpaceX switched from nylon to zylon for the Mark 3 parachutes, which provides greater tensile strength with less weight.
The section of the redesigned Mark 3 main parachute included in this display spent 62d, 9h, 8m docked to the ISS, and was in space for a total of 63d 23h 25m before returning the astronauts to Earth in the first "splashdown" since 1975.
SpaceX presentations of flown material are not available to the public; they are given to SpaceX employees who played critical roles in the missions or made a significant monetary contribution to SpaceX's PAC donation matching program. As a result, these items are difficult to source, and few have made their way onto the secondary market. This example was purchased from a former SpaceX propulsion technician.
Note: The original 8.5 x 11" SpaceX presentation came in a cheap aluminum frame with a thin acrylic sheet in place of glass. We have reframed the original SpaceX display in a beautiful 11x14" double-matted metal gallery frame. The original presentation itself has not been altered in any way (no mounting tape, etc.). If the buyer wishes to return the display to its original state, simply remove the 8.5 x 11" black mounting board with the parachute and patch) and placed back in the original 8.5 x 11" frame (which will be included with the item).
