[ad_1]
Four astronauts have begun their journey to the International Space Station (ISS) after a historic SpaceX launch.
It is the first full NASA mission to send a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft and the second time that SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has brought astronauts to the space station, following a test flight in May this year.
The crew, which is comprised of three US NASA astronauts and one Japanese astronaut, took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7.27pm local time (12.27am GMT), after weather conditions initially questioned the launch.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule, takes off
It is also the second time in nearly a decade that a manned spaceflight has taken off from the US, following the withdrawal of the shuttle program in 2011.
SpaceX will now operate a rotation of trips to the ISS on behalf of NASA, acting as a taxi service to the station.
It will take the crew around 27 hours to reach the ISS and they will spend between five and six months in Earth orbit.
In an engineering feat, the Dragon capsule should fly to the ISS fully powered up, without the need for crew members to control it, unless of course they need to.
After it thundered into the sky from Florida and through North Carolina, the ship continued across the North Atlantic on its way to orbit.
Once Dragon reached the correct altitude, his first stage thruster, known as the Falcon 9, detached and successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean called Just Read The Instructions.
The crew heads to the International Space Station.
On board, Mike Hopkins, the crew leader, said it was “an incredible ride” shortly after takeoff, adding: “There were a lot of smiles.”
Hopkins is joined by physicist Shannon Walker and Navy Commander Victor Glover, who will be the first black astronaut to spend an extended period of time aboard the ISS.
Commander Glover will also be making his first trip to the ISS, while the others have called the station home earlier.
Soichi Noguchi, from Japan, is also on board and is the third person in history to orbit three different types of spacecraft.
When they get to the ISS, it will be around 4 a.m. M. GMT on Tuesday morning, they will be greeted by NASA’s Kate Rubins and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
The Dragon crew have named their ship Resilience, as a nod to the challenges 2020 has presented.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX, previously revealed he “most likely” has COVID-19, despite reporting that there was mixed test results last week.
After the launch, he just tweeted a love heart.
He had previously tweeted: “Astronaut launch today!” Adding that despite having mild coronavirus symptoms, he felt “quite normal.”
US President Donald Trump praised the launch, calling it “great,” but added that NASA “was a closed mess when we took over.”
“Now it is again the ‘hottest’ and most advanced space center in the world, by far!”
Vice President Mike Pence was at the Florida East Coast launch on behalf of the President.
President-elect Joe Biden also tweeted saying, “Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX on today’s launch.
“It is a testament to the power of science and what we can achieve by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination. I join all Americans and the people of Japan in wishing astronauts to travel successfully on their journey.”
[ad_2]