NASA STARTS SHIPPING ASTRONAUTS VIA ELON MUSK’S SPACE X

An international crew of four astronauts (three from the US and one from Japan) is now on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) following a successful launch on a SpaceX rocket. It’s the first NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history, Fermin Koop wrote for ZME Science.

The launch happened a day later than planned due to bad weather but at 7:27 p.m. local time on Sunday, November 15 (November 16, 2020 in Manila), it took off with four astronauts on board: Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Soichi Noguchi.

The capsule successfully separated from the second stage of the rocket and, according to a SpaceX team member speaking over the radio, is currently on the correct trajectory to reach the ISS. The crew should dock at their destination on Tuesday, joining two Russians and an American aboard the station. It is the second manned flight for SpaceX, a private company founded by Tesla’s owner Elon Musk, which will now take NASA astronauts into space after nine years of US dependence on Russian Soyuz rockets. Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the launch, called it “a new era in human space exploration in America.”

SpaceX has signed a $3 billion contract with NASA to develop, test, and fly an astronaut taxi service. The deal also includes six “operational” (or routine) missions, this flight being the first of them. Back in May, the company performed a demonstration in which two astronauts were taken to the station and returned safely to Earth.