Photo: NASA
On Saturday, May 30 2020, crewed spaceflight made a glorious and triumphant return to American soil. Two men took off for the first time in a fully privately-built rocket-spacecraft assembly, heading to the International Space Station.
The launch took place from the historic Launch Complex 39A at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida and it was virtually perfect. The success of the liftoff was matched by Falcon 9’s equally perfect landing on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship in the middle of the ocean.
In the time that has passed since the Crew Dragon's launch – roughly 20 hours at the time of this writing – the spacecraft has already reached its target destination, the International Space Station.
Docking was confirmed by SpaceX just moments ago (official tweet attached below), and at the time of this writing the crew on the station is getting ready to open the hatch and greet the two Earthlings (by the time you’ll read this, joint operations commander Robert Behnken and spacecraft commander Douglas Hurley would have already made it on board the ISS).
The 20 hours that went by were also enough time for NASA to compile the most impressive photos of the launch. You have them all in the gallery attached above.
Crew Dragon’s launch marked the first successful mission of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and the start of a new age in space exploration.
The launch effectively puts an end to a decade-long habit of American astronauts being taken up in orbit by Russian rockets and capsules, and also opens up new opportunities, including in space tourism.
The only hurdle left to overcome before the mission is considered a total success is the return of the spacecraft with the two astronauts, for now scheduled to take place in the not-so-distant future.
In the time that has passed since the Crew Dragon's launch – roughly 20 hours at the time of this writing – the spacecraft has already reached its target destination, the International Space Station.
Docking was confirmed by SpaceX just moments ago (official tweet attached below), and at the time of this writing the crew on the station is getting ready to open the hatch and greet the two Earthlings (by the time you’ll read this, joint operations commander Robert Behnken and spacecraft commander Douglas Hurley would have already made it on board the ISS).
The 20 hours that went by were also enough time for NASA to compile the most impressive photos of the launch. You have them all in the gallery attached above.
Crew Dragon’s launch marked the first successful mission of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and the start of a new age in space exploration.
The launch effectively puts an end to a decade-long habit of American astronauts being taken up in orbit by Russian rockets and capsules, and also opens up new opportunities, including in space tourism.
The only hurdle left to overcome before the mission is considered a total success is the return of the spacecraft with the two astronauts, for now scheduled to take place in the not-so-distant future.
Live webcast of Crew Dragon’s test flight with @NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK https://t.co/qalF7oCJO6
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 30, 2020
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