UPDATE: With only 17 minutes on the clock before launch, SpaceX decided to abort the launch. Weather conditions wouldn’t allow for a safe launch. They are now disarming the rocket, and the launch has been moved to Saturday, May 30th, at 3:22 PM.
History will be made today, May 27th, as SpaceX looks to make the first-ever private launch of a crewed rocket into orbit.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, both space veterans, will be piloting SpaceX’s Crewed Dragon rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Marking the first time U.S. astronauts will launch in an American craft from American soil in almost exactly nine years, since the shutdown of the Space Shuttle program.
SpaceX has a live-stream going, which is currently on a T-Minus countdown until launch. NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, gave the okay for the 4:33 launch time early Wednesday morning, dependent on weather holding. They are launching from the same pad that hosted every Moon mission and over 80 other launches.
Where the operation is working under NASA guidelines, they have made clear that SpaceX remains in control of the workings and execution. Both Bridenstine and SpaceX/ Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, have been on site and doing press interviews in lead up to the launch.
Only the U.S., China, and Russia have launched humans into space, this will see SpaceX become the only private company to join those rarified ranks.
Check out this interview from Everyday Astronaut with Musk and Bridenstine from yesterday, as the clock ticks.