Elon Musk promises a SpaceX ‘all-American’ trip to orbit next month with the first launch of astronauts from American soil in a decade

[ad_1]

NASA astronauts will launch into space from American soil next month for the first time in nearly a decade.

The agency’s top chief confirmed Friday that billionaire Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX will send two astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on May 27.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, 48, and Doug Hurley, 52, will travel in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to the space station — NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, 48, and Doug Hurley, 52, will travel in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the space stationCredit: EPA

The historic flight will mark the first mission for the California company that transports humans aboard.

“BREAKING: On May 27, @NASA will again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil!” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote on Twitter.

The US space agency had previously said that the mission, in which NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, 48, and Doug Hurley, 52, will travel in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the space station, will be launched in sometime in May.

As with most high-profile missions, the new date could pass.

SpaceX has spent years developing and testing its Crew Dragon capsule, which will transport astronauts for the first time next month.Credit: EPA

SpaceX’s Incredible Video Reveals How Crew Dragon Pod Will Shoot Astronauts Into ISS

If all goes as planned, the mission would mark the first time that NASA has launched its astronauts from US soil since the 2011 withdrawal of the space shuttle.

Since then, the space agency has relied on Russia’s space program to transport astronauts to the space station.

A decade in development, next month’s mission is the final test for Crew Dragon before regularly flying humans for NASA under its Commercial Crew Program, a public-private initiative.

Boeing is developing its astronaut competitor Starliner as the agency’s second trip to space.

Crew Dragon will dock at the International Space Station on May 27Credit: EPA

Astronauts will have lunch on a Falcon 9 rocetCredit: Reuters

The agency is considering whether to extend Behnken and Hurley’s stay aboard the space station from one week as originally planned to six months to ensure that American astronauts have personnel on the station continuously.

Deadlines for the crew program have been delayed for years, with the first crew launch originally scheduled for early 2017.

Only three countries have put people into orbit since 1961: Russia, the United States, and China, in that order.

SpaceX would be the first company.

What is the ISS?

Here’s what you need to know about the International Space Station …

The International Space Station, often abbreviated as ISS, is a large spacecraft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go there to complete scientific missions.
Many countries worked together to build it and work together to use it
It is made up of many pieces, which the astronauts had to send individually on rockets and assemble from 1998 to 2000.
Since 2000, people have lived on the ISS
NASA uses the station to learn to live and work in space.
It is approximately 250 miles above Earth and orbits the planet like a satellite.
Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, many science labs, and a large panoramic window to see Earth.

SpaceX successfully conducted its first test flight of a Dragon crew capsule a year ago, sending the capsule minus one crew to the space station.

The returned capsule was accidentally destroyed during ground tests at Cape Canaveral, further delaying the astronaut’s launch.

SpaceX has been using Falcon 9 rockets to launch cargo to the space station in the company’s original Dragon pods since 2012.

The company plans to regularly send astronauts to the ISS and eventually bring humans to the Moon and Mars.