History in the making: SpaceX propels two NASA astronauts into orbit

A rocket ship built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company on Saturday (May 30) successfully blasted off with two astronauts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into orbit from the US state of Florida on their way to the International Space Station, marking the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel.

The blastoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida also assumes significance as it marks the launch of humans into orbit from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade.

The mission comes amid nationwide shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus and protests in several US cities over the death of a black man in Minneapolis while he was being arrested by a white police officer.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (49) and Doug Hurley (53), lifted off at 3:22 pm EDT Saturday atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

With the liftoff, SpaceX became the first private company to launch people into orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments: the US, Russia, and China.

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The mission is said to have ended a government monopoly on space flight and is the final test flight before NASA certifies SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule for regular-crewed missions.

The reusable capsule called Crew Dragon would now take the two American astronauts to a 19-hour journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 10:29 am EDT on Sunday (May 31).

The successful launch, which was postponed earlier this week due to inclement weather, gave Americans something to cheer about as in the last three months they have lost over 1,00,000 of their countrymen due to the coronavirus that has brought the country’s economy to its knee. More than 40 million people have lost their job and the pandemic has pushed the economy into a recession.

Top US leadership including President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and thousands of curious Americans had gathered to watch the launch live on Sunday afternoon.

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Congratulating Musk, NASA and the astronauts, Trump described the launch day as a great day for the country. “I’m so proud of the people, of NASA, public and private. When you see a sight like that, it’s incredible. When you hear that sound, the roar, you can imagine how dangerous it is,” he told reporters soon thereafter.

The President said he spoke with Musk, whom he called one of the “great brains.” He also spoke with the two NASA astronauts prior to takeoff.

“This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX, said Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla. “It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA and by a number of other partners in the process of making this happen,” he said.

NASA’s Artemis programme, the US initiative to explore more of the lunar surface, aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.

“Today, in lifting our ambitions and our imaginations to the heavens, the United States has once more reshaped the future of space travel,” said Joe Biden, former US Vice President and Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

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Biden also said the seed of today’s launch was planted by the Obama-Biden administration. “We planted the seeds of today’s success during the 2009 Recovery Act, which according to NASA, has saved taxpayers up to USD 30 billion and invigorated an aerospace industry in Florida that accounts for more than 130,000 jobs in the state,” he said.

Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations.

This is SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme.

After successfully docking, the crew will be welcomed aboard the International Space Station, where they will become members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy.

(With inputs from agencies)