NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have officially brought spaceflight back to US with the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center to the International Space Station.
Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Launch Complex 39A at 3:22pm Saturday – the first time in nine years that an American crew has launched from US soil.
‘Let´s light this candle,’ commander Hurley said just before lift-off.
There was a 50 percent chance Falcon 9 would not take off today due to ominous clouds and lightning risks, but the weather cleared with just 45 minutes left on the clock countdown.
The mission is also 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 Bert.
Falcon 9 has returned to Earth and retrieved by SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ship ‘I still
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