Watch NASA’s Space X Crew-2 Mission Launch to the Space Station!

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission launched four astronauts into space on April 23rd.

At 5:49 a.m. Eastern time, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After about a 23-hour ride, the Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock at the ISS around 5:10 a.m. ET on Saturday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen to the right of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington as it is launches NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard, Friday, April 23, 2021, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide launched at 5:49 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

 

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, into orbit to begin a six-month science mission on the space station.

“What an incredible launch, hopefully you guys got to watch it this morning, right as the sun was rising we took off,” Kimbrough said from capsule shortly after the astronauts reached orbit.

“We chased the sun pretty quickly and caught up just a few minutes after we took off. That was really special to see the sunlight coming in shortly after liftoff,” the mission’s commander added.

photo credits: NASA

 

(ABC News)