SpaceX, NASA make history with launch of two astronauts to ISS Saturday
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (right) and Doug Hurley sit in a Tesla after walking out of the operations and checkout building on May 30 with the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on their way to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket are.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Welcome to space history, SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Elon Musk’s space company passed the crucial first part of its last test flight Commercial occupation program by NASA on Saturday. The Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully launched on a fiery Florida Falcon 9 rocket with two NASA astronauts on board.
Crew Dragon started at 12:22 p.m. PT.
The occupied Demo 2 mission is one Human space flight first for SpaceX. It also marks the return of astronaut launches from U.S. soil for the first time since the end of the shuttle era in 2011.
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NASA astronauts are about to launch a spaceship with …
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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are now on their way to the International Space Station, where they are scheduled to dock at 7:27 a.m. on Sunday morning. NASA TV reports on the mission and will broadcast the arrival activities live.
“It was incredible. Appreciate the hard work. Thank you for the great trip into space.” said the crew after reaching orbit about 12 minutes in flight.
The Booster Falcon 9 that powered Crew Dragon successfully returned for a clean landing on SpaceX’s drone ship. Of course I still love you.
The Coronavirus pandemic The launch schedule was not slowed down as NASA and SpaceX adapted their work protocols and monitored the astronauts during a pre-flight quarantine.
“Our country has been through a lot. But this is a unique moment when all of America can take a moment and look at our country to do something breathtaking again, and that means American astronauts on an American rocket from American soil in to launch space station, ” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a briefing on Tuesday.
This may be the first big step for Demo-2, but more is coming. After Behnken and Hurley have spent time on the ISS, they return to Earth in Crew Dragon to complete the mission. If everything goes smoothly, SpaceX will be launched Regularly ready crew dragon missions, a sign that NASA no longer has to rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport astronauts to the ISS.
All systems are intended for SpaceX and NASA when a historic astronaut is launched
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