Manned Space Flight Comes Home

Space X  is at the cusp of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.  The mission - named Demo-2 - will include NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken launched-aboard a Space X Crew Dragon spacecraft.   

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch at 4:32 p.m. EDT on May 27 from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  That's tomorrow folks.

With the retirement of the shuttle program in 2011 NASA has since relied on Russia’s space program to send astronauts to the station.  This launch will mark the official return of manned space flight from American soil.

photo NASA.gov

A public-private initiative, Demo-2 is the final test for Crew Dragon before regularly-scheduled flights resume under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.  Boeing is developing its competing Starliner astronaut taxi and the Boeing spacecraft will fly in NASA’s  second manned mission.

As with all space missions the date/time could change on short notice.  Furthermore the agency is following CDC guidance with regard to this mission while in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency.

So, check your news feeds for confirmation of the mission launch and know that you can watch it live on YouTube.