Watch Live: SpaceX Crew Dragon to dock at International Space Station
SpaceX and NASA made history, sending astronauts from U.S. soil toward the International Space Station. It's the first crewed mission launched from the U.S. since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. And you can watch the mission live here. After bad weather caused a launch delay on May 27, the astronauts launched at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Docking with the ISS is slated to begin at 10:29 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 31.
The live webcast of this Demo-2 mission began at 11 a.m. EDT on May 30, revealing the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Launch Pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The test flight will deliver astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS. The live coverage will continue through the arrival of the astronauts on the ISS on Sunday (May 31), NASA said.
Here's a rough schedule from NASA for what to expect on the webcast on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, May 30
11 a.m. EDT – NASA TV launch coverage begins
3:22 p.m. – Liftoff
4:09 p.m. – Crew Dragon phase burn
4:55 p.m. – Far-field manual flight test
TBD p.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
6:30 p.m. – Post-launch news conference at Kennedy
Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
SpaceX representative
Kirk Shireman, manager, International Space Station Program
NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester
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Sunday, May 31
TBD a.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
10:29 a.m. – Docking with International Space Station
12:45 p.m. – Hatch Open
1:05 p.m. – Welcome ceremony
3:15 p.m. – Post-arrival news conference at Johnson Space Center
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer
NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester
Full coverage on sister site Space.com: SpaceX's historic Demo-2 astronaut launch explained
- SpaceX Crew Dragon reaches launch pad for historic NASA astronaut launch
- See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures
- In photos: SpaceX's historic Demo-2 test flight with astronauts
Editor's note: This article was first published on May 29 and updated for the docking on May 31.
Originally published on Live Science.
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Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.