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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 made up of three US NASA astronauts and a Japanese astronaut, took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7.27pm local time (12.27am GMT), after weather conditions called into question. the launch.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew 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.
It will take the crew around 27 hours to reach the ISS and they will spend between five and six months in Earth orbit.
The crew heads to the International Space Station.
Mike Hopkins, the crew leader, 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 make his first trip to the ISS.
Soichi Noguchi from Japan is the third person in history to orbit aboard three different types of spacecraft.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Sunday night local time
The crew have named their ship Resilience, as a nod to the challenges 2020 has presented.
Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX, previously revealed he “most likely” has COVID-19, despite reporting that there was mixed test results last week.
He tweeted, “Astronaut launch today!” Adding that despite having mild coronavirus symptoms, he felt “pretty normal.”
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Vice President Mike Pence was at the launch off the east coast of Florida as SpaceX begins its long-awaited rotations of private manned boats.
Resilience had to lift off at exactly 7.27pm to reach its trajectory towards the ISS, and it continued across the North Atlantic as it made its way into orbit.
