SpaceX has launched four astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station (ISS).
It’s the first time a crewship is launched from US this year.
A Falcon 9 rocket was shot up the East Coast early on Friday. It carried four astronauts on a day-long trip to the Space Station in a Dragon capsule.
There were two American astronauts, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur. A Frenchman Thomas Pesquet and a Japanese astronaut named Akihiko Hoshide.
They should arrive at their destination on Saturday to begin a six-month tour of duty.
Due to bad weather, they were running 24 hours late. The engines were ignited at 5:49 a.m. before dawn. With 1.7 pounds of thrust the rocket smoothly took off from the pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
As the Falcon 9 climbed skyward, it provided a spectacular view for area residents and tourists. Then the rocket carrying the Dragon capsule boosted it’ s way to the northeast over the Atlantic Ocean.
Elon Musk is the founder and chief designer of SpaceX. He was supervising everything from the SpaceX launch control room.
“It’s very intense,” he said while watching the rocket take off. “I suppose it does get a little bit easier, but it’s still extremely intense. I usually can’t sleep the night before a launch and that was true of the night before this one”.
Further he added, “But fortunately, we’ve got a great team. I’m really, really proud of the incredible work that team has done in partnership with NASA. … It’s hard to believe that we’re here doing this, quite frankly, it feels like a dream.”
NASA purchases a service from SpaceX, where they transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Recently, Nasa and SpaceX signed a contract. It was regarding sending a crew on the lunar surface. The company’s Starship vehicle will be used which is currently in prototype development.
