The two astronauts are ready to take off for the ISS from the historic launch pad 39A
United States:
The SpaceX launch director gave the green light on Saturday to power the rocket for a historic flight to the International Space Station by two veteran NASA astronauts.
“We are going for the propellant charge,” said launch director Mike Taylor.
Refueling of the Falcon 9 rocket with rocket-quality kerosene and liquid oxygen began 45 minutes before the scheduled 3:22 p.m. takeoff (1922 GMT) of the Falcon 9 rocket and its Crew Dragon capsule with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Turley on board.
Wednesday’s launch was postponed due to bad weather just 17 minutes before takeoff and weather conditions were also uncertain on Saturday.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, 49, and Douglas Hurley, 53, former military test pilots who joined the space agency in 2000, are scheduled to take off for the ISS from the historic launch pad 39A on a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX is looking to become the first private company to send astronauts into orbit in what would be the first crewed space flight from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.
Here are the live updates from the launch of the SpaceX crewed mission:
US President Donald Trump arrives at the Kennedy Space Center for the historic launch of SpaceX, AFP news agency reported.
The SpaceX launch director gives the green light to the fuel rocket, AFP news agency reported.
The project has experienced delays, explosions and skydiving problems – but despite this, SpaceX has beaten its competitor, the aerospace giant Boeing, with its fist, AFP news agency reported.
President Donald Trump, who flew for the previous launch attempt, also plans to attend.
The Crew Dragon mission is a defining moment for SpaceX, which Elon Musk founded in 2002 with the aim of producing a lower-cost alternative to human spaceflight.
In 2012, it had become the first private company to dock a cargo capsule to the International Space Station, having regularly replenished the station since.
The US space agency has paid more than $ 3 billion to SpaceX to design, build, test and exploit its reusable Dragon capsule for six future space round trips, the AFP news agency reported.
The SpaceX rocket will launch tonight at 12:52 a.m.
The SpaceX rocket with the new Crew Dragon capsule above was to take off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same from where Neil Armstrong and his Apollo teammates set off on their historic journey to the Moon.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was founded in 2002 by an entrepreneur obsessed with Mars determined to break the rules of the aerospace industry, Elon Musk.
Gradually, it gained the trust of the largest space agency on the planet.
In 2012, it had become the first private company to dock a cargo capsule at the ISS, having regularly replenished the station since.
Two years later, NASA ordered the next step: to transport its astronauts there, from 2017, by adapting the Dragon capsule.
“SpaceX wouldn’t be here without NASA,” said Musk last year, after a successful dress rehearsal without humans for the journey to the ISS.
The space agency has paid more than $ 3 billion to SpaceX to design, build, test and operate its reusable capsule for six future round-trip journeys into space, the AFP news agency reported.
Proceed to countdown today, 50% risk of weather cancellation
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2020
