If you missed it live, here are the best photos from SpaceX launch.
The American astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took off this Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, aboard a SpaceX rocket, the first time that a private company from the United States manages to carry out a mission of this nature for NASA.
In this still image taken by NASA TV, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (back) and Doug Hurley are tied up in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at Kennedy Space Center, ready to take off.
The Falcon 9 rocket, from the company created by Elon Musk, took off as planned at 1522 (1922 GMT), and seamlessly put the Crew Dragon capsule into orbit about ten minutes later.
After accomplishing his task of extracting the two astronauts from Earth’s gravity, the first stage of the 70-meter rocket separated according to plan, and returned to land vertically on a platform in Florida.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took off on an maiden flight today and are the first since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the US
SpaceX is the only company in the world that can retrieve its rockets that way.
Later, the second stage of Falcon 9 put the Crew Dragon capsule in the proper orbit to reach its destination, the International Space Station (ISS), which flies 400 km above the oceans, at more than 27,000 kph.
United States President Donald Trump congratulated Elon Musk, the owner of Space X, after the launch
A camera broadcast the interior of the capsule live, showing the two men adjusted to their seats during the supersonic ascent.
“Congratulations on this first manned trip for Falcon 9, it was incredible,” said astronaut Doug Hurley, commander of the spacecraft when the Dragon capsule was already reaching 27,000 km/h, at about 200 km altitude.
Elon Musk’s company ushered in the era of trade missions to space
The two men will arrive at the ISS on Sunday at 2:29 p.m. GMT.
President Donald Trump attended the launch in person a few miles away, and will deliver a speech from the Kennedy Space Center at 5:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. GMT).
The exact moment of takeoff
“Real talent, true genius, no one does this like us,” he said.
In this still image taken from NASA TV, the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is detached from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after it was launched.
Best photos from SpaceX launch: Taken from NASA live feed
Best photos from SpaceX launch: Taken from NASA live feed
It is the first time in 9 years that the United States manages to send a manned spacecraft into space.
United States President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence
Trump promised that this is only the beginning and promised that the United States will return to the Moon.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people followed the launch
Photographers record the historic first manned launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In this Friday, January 17, 2020 photo provided by NASA, astronauts Doug Hurley (left) and Robert Behnken pose in front of Tesla’s Model X electric car during a launch test at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
