Don’t Miss The Historic SpaceX Rocket Launch Carrying U.S. Astronauts This Afternoon

Watch this space tonight. Sorry, that space.

This afternoon, you’ll be able to catch a very special sight indeed.

The historic Demo-2 manned mission from SpaceX and NASA is sending passengers from America to the International Space Station (ISS).

Billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX are combining with space giants NASA for the first launch of NASA astronauts on a commercial spacecraft. It is also the first set of astronauts launched into space from US soil in nine years.

 

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🌅 Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ A new era of space exploration begins on May 27. Nine years after the final space shuttle mission, we’re once again launching astronauts from U.S. soil. On board the Crew Dragon spacecraft that sits atop the @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket are veteran astronauts @astro.behnken and @astro.doug. But the crew alone won’t fill the crew cabin. Flying with them are the dreams of everybody who ever dared to explore. They are the dreams of the generations that saw 12 humans walk on the Moon. They are the dreams of young boys and girls who will watch a woman take that first step on the Moon in 2024 under our Artemis program. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ May 27 will be noted as yet another day in history when people can say, “I remember what I was doing that day.” How will you watch history tomorrow? Show us by tagging @nasa in your posts and using the hashtag #LaunchAmerica. You might just make it onto our broadcast.⁣⁣ Live NASA TV coverage starts at 12:15pm ET (4:15pm UTC) at nasa.gov/live. ⁣⁣ Remember: the future is bright because you’re in it. ✨⁣⁣ ⁣ 📸: NASA/Bill Ingalls⁣ ⁣ #hope #spacex #nasa #rocket #sunset #photooftheday⁣

A post shared by NASA (@nasa) on May 26, 2020 at 3:03pm PDT

The Falcon 9 rocket will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning a 19-hour voyage to the International Space Station. The so-called Crew Dragon spacecraft will feature two NASA astronauts; Robert Behnken, 48, and Douglas Hurley, 53. Upon arrival at the ISS, the astronauts will spend somewhere between one and four months living and working.

Falcon 9 is due to take off at 2:22pm CDT.

 

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Targeting 4:33 p.m. EDT today for Falcon 9’s launch of Crew Dragon with @NASA astronauts on board. Teams are closely monitoring launch and downrange weather → spacex.com/launches

A post shared by SpaceX (@spacex) on May 27, 2020 at 5:53am PDT

This mission is acting as a demonstration for SpaceX to prove their ability to safely ship astronauts to and from the International Space Station. If successful, they may be certified by NASA’s program to carry out long-term manned missions to space.

The launch was originally supposed to take place on Wednesday but was forced to postpone due to inclement weather.

You can also catch the launch live online here, courtesy of NASA TV, that has already begun!

See also: NASA Has Released Highest-Resolution images of Jupiter To Date.