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Two NASA astronauts flew TKS, Bob Behnken, 49, and Doug Hurley, 53.
“We’re going to light this candle,” Hurley said just before the rocket engines started. He repeated the words spoken by the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, before his 1961 flight.
Falcon 9 two-stage launch vehicle at 3 p.m. 22 min. The east coast (10:22 p.m. Lithuania) took off on time from Historic Site 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, from where Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts took off on a historic flight to the Moon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission.
“America has begun!” Said the speaker via NASA’s live video.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence saw the launch rocket when Air Force One arrived at the space center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Trump said it was “really something special.”
“Real talent: nobody does it like we do,” he said.
The mission, called Demo-2, became the first manned flight from the United States since 2011. In addition, it is the first manned space flight organized by a private company.
This mission is seen as a crucial step for the United States to end its dependence on Russian spacecraft crew members to and from TKS.
The launch of the Falcon 9 and its Crew Dragon spacecraft, due to take place on Wednesday, was canceled at the last minute due to adverse weather conditions, but on Saturday, forecasters also forecast 50 percent. the probability that the flight should be postponed again.
However, the fears did not come true: the rocket was successfully launched and after just over 9 minutes. The first stage of the Falcon’s reuse landed gently on the floating barge platform. Of course I still love you in the Atlantic Ocean. A little later, the space capsule detached from the rocket’s second stage, successfully orbiting its intended orbit at an altitude of about 450 km above Earth.
The capsule is scheduled to connect to TKS approximately 19 hours after startup.
Flight Demo-2 is the latest test of the SpaceX manned flight system, which will test the Crew Dragon capsule, the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, the company’s launch site and operations. During this mission, B. Behnken and D. Hurley, along with SpaceX flight controllers, will inspect the operation of the capsule systems, the operation of bypass engines, the possibility of automatic connection to TKS and other operations.
Since 2011, when the space shuttle’s reusable spacecraft program was completed, American astronauts have been flown to the International Space Station by the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine noted earlier this week that this new spaceflight program for the United States will be only its fifth.
Additionally, it is the first program to be implemented as a public-private partnership: SpaceX produces Crew Dragon capsules and Boeing produces Starliner.
To reduce budget waste, NASA financed the construction of the spacecraft, but signed contracts with these companies for six manned flights to and from TKS.
Saturday’s start was different from the previous ones because the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19 infection will prevent it from being seen by the usual crowd of spectators.
Both astronauts have been isolated since May 13 to protect new and existing members of the TKS crew from becoming infected with the new coronavirus.
NASA is currently under pressure as D. Trump has set a goal of bringing American astronauts back to the Moon by 2024.
Doug Loverro, the agency’s chief flight programs manager, unexpectedly resigned Tuesday, just six months after taking office. The move is believed to involve the acquisition of the new Artemis lunar flight program.
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