"This is the first time in human history @NASA_Astronauts have entered the @Space_Station from a commercially-made spacecraft. @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug have finally arrived to the orbiting laboratory in @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft," NASA said in tweet.
They were welcomed aboard the ISS where they became members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. The docking had taken place 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center.
They were welcomed aboard the ISS where they became members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. The docking had taken place 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center.
Elon Musk's SpaceX company earlier confirmed the successful docking of the NASA astronauts with the ISS, the orbiting laboratory. "Docking confirmed - Crew Dragon has arrived at the @space_station!" the California-headquartered company announced on Twitter.
Saturday's liftoff also assumes significance as it marks the launch of humans into orbit from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Behnken and Hurley, lifted off at 3:22 pm EDT Saturday atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
With the liftoff, SpaceX became the first private company to launch people into the orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments: the US, Russia and China. The successful launch, which was postponed early this week due to inclement weather, gave Americans something to cheer about as in the last three months they have lost over 100,000 of their countrymen due to the coronavirus that has brought the economy to its knees. More than 40 million people have lost their jobs.
Top US leadership including President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and thousands of curious Americans had gathered to watch the launch live on a bright Sunday afternoon. Congratulating Musk, NASA and the astronauts, Trump described the launch day as a great day for the country.
Top US leadership including President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and thousands of curious Americans had gathered to watch the launch live on a bright Sunday afternoon. Congratulating Musk, NASA and the astronauts, Trump described the launch day as a great day for the country.
The President said he spoke with Musk, whom he called one of the "great brains." He also spoke with the two NASA astronauts prior to the takeoff. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that "Launch America is the first big step on our roadmap to the Moon for Artemis".
NASA's Artemis programme, the US initiative to explore more of the lunar surface, aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.
NASA's Artemis programme, the US initiative to explore more of the lunar surface, aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.
"This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX,” said Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla.
Known as NASA's SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations.
This is SpaceX's second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.
This is SpaceX's second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.
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