NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a second attempt at making history.
The team has had breakfast, talked with friends and family and are now suiting up in the new sleek white spacesuits that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had personally worked on for four years.
The ground crew is running through a series of tests on the suits that are designed to connect into the Crew Dragon seats.
As it stands, the 24-storey-tall SpaceX Falcon 9 is due to lift off at 3.22pm Eastern Time, propelling astronauts Behnken and Hurley aloft on a 19-hour ride to the International Space Station.
They will be carried there on the newly designed Crew Dragon capsule, making its first flight into orbit with humans aboard.
Both NASA and SpaceX said they would be ‘proceeding with countdown’ despite a 50 percent ‘weather cancellation risk’ amid concerns over possible thunderstorms and rain around the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.
The skies are currently clear and the sun is shining, but members of the 45th Weather Squadron, a unit part of the United States Space Force, will keep a close watch on conditions.
If weather conditions violate the criteria for a safe liftoff, SpaceX’s launch director will call off Launch America.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a second attempt at making history. The team has had breakfast, talked with friends and family and are now suiting up in the new sleek white spacesuits that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had personally worked on for four years
The biggest concern is lighting, precipitation, cumulus clouds and anvil clouds – all of which could ground Falcon 9 until Sunday.
The first Falcon 9 rocket launch try on Wednesday was called off with less than 17 minutes on the countdown clock due to stormy weather.
The mission will be the first time a private company has put astronauts into space, and is the second attempt to launch after Wednesday’s flight was aborted when Storm Bertha rolled in off the Gulf of Mexico, obstructing the flight path.
But concerns remain over the conditions today, with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeting this morning: ‘We are moving forward with launch today. Weather challenges remain with a 50 percent chance of cancellation.’
The launch pad is the same one used by NASA’s last space shuttle flight, piloted by Hurley, in 2011. Since then, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
The crew is still pushing forward with plans and the astronauts are now fully dressed in the spacesuits developed by Musk with the help of costume designer Jose Fernandez with envisioning the prototype.
Fernandez, who has worked on ‘The Avengers’ and ‘X-Men’, revealed that Musk wanted the crew to look better in the suit than without it, ‘like a tux.’ ‘Musk kept saying, anyone looks better in a tux, no matter what size or shape they are,’ he said in an interview with Bleep.
The launch pad is the same one used by NASA’s last space shuttle flight, piloted by Hurley, in 2011. Since then, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. The crew is still pushing forward with plans and the astronauts are now fully dressed in the spacesuits developed by Musk with the help of costume designer Jose Fernandez with envisioning the prototype
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein paid the astronauts a visit in the crew quarters. Having to keep the social distancing policy, Bridenstein snapped a selfie to commemorate the mission dubbed Launch America
The ground crew is running through a series of tests on that are designed to connect into the Dragon seats, which provides cool to the astronauts and communication to the crew. As it stands, the 24-storey-tall SpaceX Falcon 9 is due to lift off at 3.22pm Eastern Time, propelling astronauts Behnken and Hurley aloft on a 19-hour ride to the International Space Station
Doug Hurley (pictured) is suited up and ready to go for Launch America
Hurley and Behnken are wearing the new SpaceX suits that Elon Musk said he personally worked on for three to four years
The skies are currently clear and the sun is shining, but members of the 45th Weather Squadron, a unit part of the United States Space Force, will keep a close watch on conditions. However, as it stands NASA and SpaceX are moving forward and Hurley and Benhken are suiting up for the mission
For Musk, the launch represents another milestone for the reusable rockets his company pioneered to make spaceflight less costly and frequent.
And it would mark the first time that commercially developed space vehicles – owned and operated by a private entity rather than NASA – have carried Americans into orbit.
Musk said on Wednesday he accepted absolute responsibility if today’s historic launch of his Falcon 9 rocket ended in tragedy.
Musk told CBS This Morning: ‘I’m the chief engineer of this thing so I’d just like to say that if it goes right, it’s credit to the SpaceX-NASA team. If it goes wrong, it’s my fault.’
Asked whether there was one thing about this afternoon’s launch that kept him up at night, he added: ‘There’s thousands of things that can go wrong and only one thing that can go right.’
The biggest concern is lighting, precipitation, cumulus clouds and anvil clouds – all of which could ground Falcon 9 until Sunday. The first Falcon 9 rocket launch try on Wednesday was called off with less than 17 minutes on the countdown clock due to stormy weather
Dolphins swim in a lagoon near Launch Complex 39A at sunrise at Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning. Elon Musk said they would be ‘proceeding with countdown’ despite a 50 per cent ‘weather cancellation risk’
NASA and SpaceX are gearing up to send two American astronauts to the International Space Station aboard the American rocket. Pictured: The Falcon 9, with the Dragon capsule on top, is raised onto the launch pad in Florida on Tuesday
The SpaceX suits have been jointly designed by a Hollywood costume designer and by Elon Musk himself
Spectators are already setting up spots on the Florida beach to watch NASA and SpaceX make history
The last time NASA launched astronauts into space aboard a brand new vehicle was 40 years ago at the start of the shuttle program.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the Kennedy Space Center three days ago for the first launch attempt. Mr Trump said he plans to return for today’s retry.
If the mission is scrubbed again, the next launch window would be tomorrow afternoon, with weather forecasts appearing somewhat more favorable for that day.
Musk, the South African-born high-tech entrepreneur who made his fortune in Silicon Valley, is also the chief executive of electric carmaker and battery manufacturer Tesla Inc.
He founded Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, in 2002.
Hurley, 53, and Mr Behnken, 49, NASA employees under contract to fly with SpaceX, are expected to remain at the space station for several weeks.
Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control will validate the performance of the craft by testing the environmental control system, displays, maneuvering thrusters and other technologies.
Crew Dragon should be in position to dock with the ISS about 24 hours after takeoff and will connect to the ship autonomously.
After successfully docking, Behnken and Hurley will be joined with the other members on the space station and become part of the Expedition 63 crew.
Aerospace giant Boeing Co, producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year.
NASA has awarded nearly $8billion to SpaceX and Boeing combined for development of their rival rockets.
Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX tweeted the above today as it prepares to send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Falcon 9 rocket from Florida – marking the company’s first mission carrying humans aboard
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were strapped in the cabin of Crew Dragon Capsule ready for blast off when the launch from Florida was cancelled on Wednesday because of bad weather
People around the world can also watch the launch as it happens on NASA’s TV channel, which is streamed on YouTube.
Elon Musk said today they would be ‘proceeding with countdown’ despite a 50 per cent ‘weather cancellation risk’
Wednesday’s launch was cancelled with less than 17 minutes remaining on the countdown clock as bad weather meant the launch had to be delayed by a few seconds around the Kennedy Space Center.
This meant it would have missed its trajectory for arrival at the fast-moving ISS. NASA astronauts Behnken and Hurley were strapped in and ready to go when it was cancelled.
SpaceX said in a Tweet: ‘Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable weather in the flight path. Our next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT, or 19:22 UTC.’
Due to social distancing rules, the team could only say their goodbyes to their family on Wednesday at a distance
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken waves to the crowd as he and fellow crew member Doug Hurley ride back from Launch Complex 39A after the missions was postponed on Wednesday due to bad weather
The SpaceX suits have been jointly designed by a Hollywood costume designer and by Musk himself (pictured: Matt Damon in 2015’s The Martian; and NASA astronaut Bob Behnken wearing the SpaceX suit, right)
Hurley said: ‘We could see some raindrops on the windows and just figured that whatever it was, was too close to the launch pad at the time we needed it not to be.
‘Understand that everybody´s probably a little bit bummed out. That´s just part of the deal. … We’ll do it again, I think, on Saturday.’
The SpaceX demo-2 mission will see the Falcon 9 rocket and attached Crew Dragon capsule shoot into space as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
If successful, it will pave the way for future partnerships between NASA and commercial companies, and a new age of space travel.
The mission was cancelled as Storm Bertha rolled into the area of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pictured above is the rocket on Wednesday moments before the launch was cancelled
SpaceX founder Elon Musk (left) wearing a face mask with the SpaceX logo at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Wednesday
The launchpad at Cape Canaveral in Florida is pictured above last Saturday. The rocket will lift off 8.22pm UK time
The Falcon 9 will take off from Cape Canaveral on the other side of the Atlantic and be visible in the UK sky two hours later
SpaceX’s fourth Starship rocket prototype EXPLODES into a ball of flames following a pressurized test one day before their Falcon 9 rocket is set to blast off for the ISS
Elon Musk’s prototype space rocket exploded in a massive fireball before it left the ground last night.
The eccentric billionaire was testing his company SpaceX’s Starship rocket in Texas when the vehicle burst into flames after failing an engine test.
The explosion happened a few minutes after SpaceX ignited the vehicle’s engine which then became engulfed in flames. It could be seen in a live stream recorded by Nasa’s website. There was no indication of any injuries.
This was the fourth prototype of SpaceX’s next generation rocket which is part of Mr Musk’s ambitions to make human space travel affordable.
The company has lost three previous versions of the vehicle during pressurised tests that caused the space rockets to burst or implode.
It comes after SpaceX’s attempt to launch two Nasa astronauts to the International Space Station on Wednesday was called off due to bad weather.
The prototype Serial Number 4 vanished into a fireball at SpaceX’s Boca Chica site in Texas Friday shortly the engine was ignited for a pressurized test
This is the fourth Starship rocket that has been lost while testing – all of the the previous vessels also imploded during testing. It began smoking shortly after the test began
And in seconds was engulfed in a ball of flames. The SN4 had passed several important milestones during development, including a pressurization test that had foiled previous models