[ad_1]
SpaceX became the first private company to launch humans onto the International Space Station on Sunday.
At 7:27 pm EST Sunday, three NASA astronauts – Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins – and JAXA Specialist Soichi Noguchi, took off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, bound for the ISS. .
Previously scheduled for a Halloween launch, the mission was delayed until mid-November, giving SpaceX more time to assess what NASA called “unusual behavior” of a Falcon 9. It was worth the wait, and the Crew Dragon spacecraft, dubbed Resilience, is set to autonomously dock to the space station around 11pm tonight. Tune in to NASA Television or the agency’s website for live coverage of the mooring, hatch opening, and welcome ceremony.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the work we’ve done here today,” Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Falcon 9 looked great, Dragon dropped into a beautiful orbit about 12 minutes after the mission, and we’ll get more data as we go.”
Walker, Glover, Hopkins, and Noguchi join Expedition 64 members Kate Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov for a six-month mission aboard the ISS. The new team will also be present to welcome the Russian Soyuz vehicle and the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2021.
Sunday’s historic launch, the first of six planned NASA / SpaceX Commercial Crew Program flights, paves the way for a future of routine launches, transporting international scientists to and from the ISS. After NASA’s Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, the agency was forced to rely on Russia to bring astronauts to the floating lab.
“NASA is fulfilling its commitment to the American people and our international partners to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective missions to the International Space Station using private American industry,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.
“This is an important mission for NASA, SpaceX, and our partners at JAXA,” he continued. “And we hope to see this team reach [the] station to continue our partnership for all mankind. “
