For the first time in nine years, America is ready to tie two NASA astronauts atop a giant rocket and shoot them into space. In any case, this time, NASA representatives won’t be the ones buckling their safety seat belts. NASA and SpaceX are counting down to the next launch to put astronauts into orbit from Florida.
Rather, a private American organization – Tesla creator Elon Musk’s SpaceX – will take the lives of astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley in its hands on the first kept an eye on the experimental flight of the organization’s Dragon capsule.
Their excursion will be the first time American astronauts have left American soil on an American rocket since Atlantis finished off NASA’s space shuttle program in July 2011.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will ride a Falcon 9 rocket of the out of the earth’s atmosphere on a mission to the International Space Station, part of the organization’s Commerical Crew Program. When they show up, the two astronauts intend to go through as long as four months on board before coming back to earth. They’ll use that chance to take the Dragon capsule rocket on test flights and affirm that the entirety of the boat’s systems is performing accurately.
On the off chance that all works out in a good way, the present launch will be the last experimental flight the program requirements for NASA certification.
When is the launch?
The SpaceX Demo-2 test flight is scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A at 4:33 p.m. ET on May 27, 2020, in Cape Canaveral.
There will be no second chances today if things begin to run behind schedule. The launch window is prompt, which implies any postpone will drive a deferral until 3:22 p.m. ET Saturday or 3 p.m. ET Sunday.
That could be a genuine concern given the rainfall announced over the state this week by the National Weather Service.
Rodney Wynn, a meteorologist at the National Weather Center in Ruskin, said it might be difficult to figure whether the launch proceeds. Weather radar appears there are as of now a significant number showers and isolated storms moving from the southwest toward the cape, Wynn said.
How can you watch it on TV?
The show begins at an early stage on NASA TV, the live-stream programming carried by some cable providers. Continuous coverage of the mission starts at 12:15 p.m. ET and proceeds through Crew Dragon’s landing in the International Space Station on Thursday, including the resulting hatch opening and welcoming ceremony.
You can watch NASA TV on the office’s website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Roku, Pluto, and Twitch TV. Or then again, you can watch in the watcher below.
How can you watch online?
While the coronavirus pandemic has snuffed out the chance of more traditional watch parties for the launch, NASA and SpaceX have held nothing back to make an interactive, virtual experience for watchers. NASA’s “Launch America” website offers watchers an in the background look at each step of the present launch, with virtual tours through NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center and real-time social media chats with staff.
Space enthusiasts are welcome to associate through a new Facebook group named #LaunchAmerica NASA Social. People, in general, are likewise urged to share what’s making them amped up for the launch by using the hashtag #LaunchAmerica on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
