Dawn of a new era: SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 15
The first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company took place Sunday with SpaceX launching four astronauts to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center.
The Falcon rocket carried three Americans and one Japanese, and was the second crew to be launched by SpaceX. The Dragon capsule on top, named Resilience by its crew, reached orbit nine minutes later. It is due to reach the space station late Monday and remain there until spring. The Dragon can carry up to seven people, unlike previous space capsules that have carried a maximum of three.
In the next 15 months, SpaceX plans to fly roughly seven Dragon missions for NASA, both crew and cargo. NASA turned to private companies to haul cargo and crew to the space station, after the shuttle fleet retired in 2011.
“By working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience,” Commander Mike Hopkins said before liftoff.
Apart from Hopkins, the three-men, one-woman crew included physicist Shannon Walker, Navy Cmdr. Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi, who became the first person in almost 40 years to launch on three types of spacecraft. The four astronauts will be joining two Russians and one American who flew to the space station last month from Kazakhstan
Sunday’s launch follows by just a few months SpaceX’s two-pilot test flight. Cheers and applause erupted at SpaceX Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, after the capsule reached orbit and the first-stage booster landed on a floating platform in the Atlantic.
Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the National Space Council, joined NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to watch the launch. “I didn’t start breathing until about a minute after it took off,” he said during a stop at SpaceX Launch Control to congratulate the workers.
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