Everything is in readiness for the first mission to send humans into orbit from U.S. soil since NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011 – from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that will take two astronauts to the International Space Station, to the parachutes that will bring them back down gently to an Atlantic Ocean splashdown, to the masks that NASA’s ground team will wear in Mission Control.
The fact that the launch is coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has added a weird and somewhat wistful twist to the history-making event.
“That certainly is disappointing,” NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, who’ll be spacecraft commander for the Crew Dragon demonstration mission, told reporters today during a mission preview. “An aspect of this pandemic is the fact that we won’t have the luxury of our family and friends being there at Kennedy to watch the launch. But it’s obviously the right thing to do.”
NASA is asking people not to show up in person to watch the liftoff, currently scheduled for 4:32 p.m. ET (1:32 p.m. PT) May 27 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
