United States: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying two veteran NASA astronauts lifted off on Saturday on an historic first private crewed flight into space.
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off smoothly in a cloud of orange flames and smoke from Launch Pad 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the 19-hour voyage to the International Space Station.
The first booster stage of the rocket separated cleanly and landed upright on a barge off the Atlantic coast.
The second stage also separated smoothly, sending the astronauts in the Crew Dragon capsule on their way to the space station orbiting some 250 miles (450 kilometers) above the Earth.
The first crewed flight from US soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 had originally been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed because of weather conditions, which also remained uncertain on Saturday right up until liftoff at 3:22 pm (1922 GMT).
President Donald Trump flew to Florida aboard Air Force One to watch the launch and described it as "really something special."
"Real talent, real genius, nobody does it like us," Trump said.
Here are the Highlights of the SpaceX crewed mission launch:
May 31, 2020 01:02 (IST)
First booster stage separates from SpaceX rocket, news agency AFP reported.
May 31, 2020 00:25 (IST)
US President Donald Trump arrives at Kennedy Space Center for historic SpaceX launch, news agency AFP reported.
May 31, 2020 00:14 (IST)
SpaceX launch director gives green light to fuel rocket, news agency AFP reported.
May 30, 2020 23:59 (IST)
SpaceX conducted a successful test flight of Crew Dragon to the ISS in March 2019 with a sensor-laden mannequin on board named Ripley, after the character played by Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" movies.
The project has experienced delays, explosions, and parachute problems -- but even so, SpaceX has beaten its competitor, aerospace giant Boeing, to the punch, news agency AFP reported.
May 30, 2020 23:30 (IST)
Donald Trump Plans To Attend The SpaceX Rocket Launch
President Donald Trump, who flew in for the previous launch attempt, is also planning to attend.
The Crew Dragon mission is a defining moment for SpaceX, which Elon Musk founded in 2002 with the goal of producing a lower-cost alternative to human spaceflight.
By 2012, it had become the first private company to dock a cargo capsule at the International Space Station, resupplying the station regularly ever since.
The US space agency paid more than $3 billion for SpaceX to design, build, test and operate its reusable Dragon capsule for six future space round-trips, news agency AFP reported.
