
It’s really happening! Today NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will board a SpaceX capsule named Crew Dragon. The capsule will be carried from Florida into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket. They will travel to the International Space Stations (ISS) as a major test of SpaceX’s new Dragon 2 spacecraft.
The event is historic for various reasons. It’s the first time since 2011 that the US launched astronauts from its own soil. Also, this historic flight is a new type of partnership between a public entity (NASA) and a private aerospace firm (SpaceX). If all goes well, we can expect much more from these guys in the future.
The flight is currently targeted for 4:33PM ET on Wednesday, May 27th. That may change if the weather does not cooperate.
NASA will live-stream the event on YouTube and its website. SpaceX will also live-stream the launch on its YouTube channel.
Go NASA! Go SpaceX!