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While most of us are still staying home in lockdown,
NASA and
SpaceX are preparing for the first manned launch to take off from
American soil since 2011.
The world will be watching eagerly to see how astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley fair on their journey to the
International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday 27 May.
They will be on board a
Crew Dragon capsule – and blasted into space by a
Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX.
Let’s face it, the rest of us are not going anywhere anytime soon – so why not get your vicarious travel kicks by watching the moment as it happens.Related... Nasa Boss Confirms They're Teaming Up With Tom Cruise For The First Film Shot In Space When is the launch taking place?The lift-off is planned to start at 4.33pm local time on Wednesday, from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral,
Florida.
This works out at 9.33pm
British summer time.How can I watch the launch?Nasa is streaming the launch live on Nasa TV, which is available to watch on
YouTube. Coverage will start at 5pm
UK time, so you can get a glimpse of last minute preparations, interviews and more in the lead up to the big moment at 9.30pm.Why is this mission so important?The mission, known as Demo-2, will allow the US to once again send humans into space, rather than relying on paying
Russia for a lift on its
spacecraft as the US has done for the past nine years.
According to Nasa, this is a “demonstration mission” to show SpaceX’s ability to ferry astronauts to the space station and back safely.
It’s the final major step required by SpaceX’s
astronaut carrier, the Crew Dragon, to get certified by Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme for more long-term manned missions to space.Related... NASA Images Show Air Pollution In
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