Astronauts will launch from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011
UPDATE: The launch was rescheduled for Saturday, May 30. Click here to read our recap of the launch.
A major space milestone is planned for this Wednesday, May 27!
On this day at 4:33 PM EDT (weather permitting), humans will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) from U.S. soil. This will be the first time humans have flown to the ISS from U.S. soil since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
The milestones continue from there. With this launch, SpaceX will be the first commercial company – ever – to send humans into space. This launch will mark the culmination of a 15-year initiative to work with commercial companies to develop new roads to space for NASA’s astronauts.
On Wednesday, you can watch live as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida. There will be two astronauts on board – Space Commander Doug Hurley and Joints Operations Commander Bob Behnken – for whom this will both be their third space mission.
We can’t wait to watch this exciting moment in space history!
Interested in more space stories like this one? Be sure to check out our “Planetarium Online” live streams, streaming on Liberty Science Center’s Facebook page every Thursday at 1 PM EDT.
