NASA to launch astronauts to space station from US soil for the first time in a decade
NASA announced Friday that SpaceX will launch astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday, May 27 at 4:32 p.m. ET.
Liftoff will be from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center — marking the first time a rocket will carry astronauts into orbit from the United States since NASA’s Space Shuttle program retired in 2011.
It will also be the first crewed mission for SpaceX since its founding 18 years ago.
Because of Covid-19, however, there will be no crowds of spectators lining the beaches and viewing sites along Florida’s Space Coast to watch the craft hurtle toward the ISS, as they have for the launch of nearly every crewed US mission since Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space in 1961.
