Crewed spaceflight has returned to American soil for the first time in over 9 years today with the successful launch of Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket. This is a 50-second exposure of the rocket captured from the @45thSpaceWing and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (Copyright Michael Seeley / National Geographic)
At 7:27pm (ET) Sunday, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and historic LC-39A for their mission aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon, named "Resilience" by the crew, is the first human-rated commercial spaceship, and this launch marks the return of operational spaceflight from American soil.
At 7:27pm (ET) Sunday, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and historic LC-39A for their mission aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon, named "Resilience" by the crew, is the first human-rated commercial spaceship, and this launch marks the return of operational spaceflight from American soil.
At 7:27pm (ET) Sunday, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and historic LC-39A for their mission aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon, named "Resilience" by the crew, is the first human-rated commercial spaceship, and this launch marks the return of operational spaceflight from American soil.
At 7:27pm (ET) Sunday, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and historic LC-39A for their mission aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon, named "Resilience" by the crew, is the first human-rated commercial spaceship, and this launch marks the return of operational spaceflight from American soil.
Nine Merlin rocket engines on SpaceX Falcon 9 booster B1061 push the Crew Dragon "Resilience" to orbit. This is a close-up captured by a sound-activated camera as the rocket launched from LC-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Following the successful launch of the first human-rated commercial spaceship, the crew of 4 astronauts will arrive at the International Space Station at approximately 11 pm (ET) Monday night.
Nine Merlin rocket engines on SpaceX Falcon 9 booster B1061 push the Crew Dragon "Resilience" to orbit. This is a close-up captured by a sound-activated camera as the rocket launched from LC-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Following the successful launch of the first human-rated commercial spaceship, the crew of 4 astronauts will arrive at the International Space Station at approximately 11 pm (ET) Monday night.
Roughly 2-hours before the Crew-1 launch, the sun set, and the light was just perfect. (Pic: me / Nat Geo)
The #crew1 travelled to the pad in style in a Telsa motorcade motorcade. Here is JAXA(宇宙航空研究開発機構)'s Soichi Noguchi waving as he passes by the KSC Press Site. (Pic: me / Nat Geo)
The Crew-1 crew motorcade (Teslas for all!) arrives at LC-39A. (Pic:me / Nat Geo)