So far so good. The astronauts are in the capsule. One hour and forty five minutes until launch. Weather is still an issue.
SpaceX tried again Saturday and succeeded in launching NASA astronauts from Kennedy Space Center becoming the first private company to send humans into orbit and ending a nine year gap in human spaceflight from the U.S.
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Live video and updates: NASA astronauts ready for SpaceX Crew Dragon liftoff
Falcon 9 set for 3:22 p.m. liftoff from Kennedy Space Center | Weather 50% ‘Go’
NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken wave while seated in a Tesla SUV on their way to Pad 39-A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, May 30, 2020. The two astronauts will fly on a SpaceX test flight to the International Space Station. For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts will blast into orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – SpaceX will try again Saturday to launch NASA astronauts from Kennedy Space Center becoming the first private company to send humans into orbit and ending a nine year gap in human spaceflight from the U.S.
The first attempt to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley
was scrubbed Wednesday due to weather. NASA and SpaceX will try again as soon at 3:22 p.m. Saturday.
News 6 will have reporters at KSC and throughout Brevard County providing important updates on the countdown and information leading up to the launch. Check back for updates throughout the day and
don’t forget to join our virtual watch party where you can pick your view of the liftoff.
All day follow live countdown updates and video in this story from News 6 and
ClickOrlando.com as NASA prepares to launch American astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011.
Watch NASA and SpaceX countdown coverage below:
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this historic day:
What’s happening? Elon Musk’s private company SpaceX is set to launch two NASA astronauts onboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a mission known as Demo-2. The Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift off at 3:22 p.m. from KSC Launch Complex 39A. After liftoff, Crew Dragon will take 19 hours to reach the International Space Station.
Who is onboard? Veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are the lone passengers onboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. They also happen to be amazing husbands, fathers and all around amazing people.
Read their amazing stories here.
Why is this so important? Since the end of the space shuttle program, America has paid Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station. As part of NASA’s commercial crew program, the U.S. space agency selected SpaceX and Boeing to develop spacecraft to fly NASA astronauts. This launch will mark the first of the program with people on board.
Weather updates: As of Saturday morning, the Space Force 45th Weather Squadron is predicting a 50% chance of good liftoff conditions. However, that does not include recovery conditions in case of a launch abort. SpaceX, NASA and Space Force weather officials will be monitoring both liftoff and recovery conditions to make the decision of “go” or “no go” closer to the launch window.
Click here to read about what happens if the astronauts need to make an emergency abort.
What if there is another scrub? SpaceX has two other opportunities to launch Crew Dragon to the ISS this week, on Sunday at 3 p.m. and again on June 2.
en.wikipedia.org
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/RX7LSGMOKZFUDCSTYJ7S5TQRAI.jpg "NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken wave while seated in a Tesla SUV on their way to Pad 39-A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, May 30, 2020. The two astronauts will fly on a SpaceX test flight to the International Space Station. For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts will blast into orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company. (AP Photo/John Raoux)")
