At 3:22pm ET, SpaceX’s NASA Flight launched successfully from Cape Canaveral, marking the first NASA crew bound for orbit from the US in 9 years, heralding a new era in human spaceflight and forging a new landmark for NASA and Elon Musk.
Trump and Pence were both present at the lift off, which saw astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley separated from the rocket booster roughly 12 minutes into the flight.
The Dragon capsule will next deliver Behnken and Hurley to the International Space Station Sunday – the first time American astronauts have flown from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. The launch comes 18 years after Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. with the ultimate goal of populating other planets.
It follows after the Raptor engine in SpaceX’s Starship SN4 prototype blew up on its test stand in Boca Chica, Texas a day ago. https://twitter.com/i/status/1266451354861686784
A day later the two US astronauts docked with the International Space Station ISS on SpaceX ‘s Crew Dragon spacecraft. https://twitter.com/i/status/1267105852646965248