NASA And SpaceX Launch First Astronauts To Orbit From U.S. Since 2011
Similar weather concerns dogged Saturday's launch and nearly forced a second delay.
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NASA astronauts are heading to space from U.S. soil for the first time in nine years aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule, the maiden crewed flight of the innovative spacecraft.
The mission, which is sending Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station, is a bold new venture for the space agency's plan to allow commercial companies to take its astronauts into low-Earth orbit.
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Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET
The duo left a fiery plume behind at Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A at 3:22 p.m. ET as they rode SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket toward a rendezvous with the station in about 19 hours time. On Wednesday, storms and a tornado warning upended a launch attempt, with the veteran space shuttle astronauts suited up and strapped into the Dragon before the mission was scrubbed.
Similar weather concerns dogged Saturday's launch and nearly forced a second delay, but NASA and SpaceX decided early Saturday that conditions were trending in the right direction. As the countdown narrowed, the weather continued to improve.
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