Hawthorne Based SpaceX Launches Four Astronauts Into Space

HAWTHORNE, CA — Hawthorne-based SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts into space in its Falcon 9 rocket Sunday. Crew-1, SpaceX's first operational mission, is another step in a collective effort to breathe new life into the United States' manned spaceflight program.

SpaceX's first commercial space flight, the Crew-1 mission, left Earth from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4:27 p.m. California time and was making its way to the International Space Station.

Sunday's launch is thus considered the first fully operational mission for a Crew Dragon. The capsule being used in the mission, named "Resilience," is built to accommodate four astronauts instead of the two who flew in the May launch.

President-elect Joe Biden tweeted in response, saying, "Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX on today's launch. It's a testament to the power of science and what we can accomplish by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination. I join all Americans and the people of Japan in wishing the astronauts Godspeed on their journey."

Outgoing president Donald Trump also took to Twitter, saying, "A great launch! @NASA was a closed up disaster when we took over. Now it is again the 'hottest', most advanced, space center in the world, by far!"

In May, SpaceX launched astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to ISS in a Crew Dragon capsule named "Endeavour," the first manned mission to launch from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011.

The Crew-1 mission is the first of three planned Crew Dragon flights in 2020 and 2021.

The flight was delayed by one day due to onshore winds in Florida and "recovery operations," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted Friday.

The 45th Space Wing at Cape Canaveral announced that there was a 70 percent chance of favorable weather conditions Saturday, increasing to 80 percent less than 30 minutes until the launch.

Crew Dragon has separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and is on its way to the @space_station for its first operational mission! Autonomous docking tomorrow at ~11:00 p.m. EST pic.twitter.com/GCeLEyTjZe
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 16, 2020

The Falcon 9 rocket propelled the four astronauts into orbit and successfully detached the Crew Dragon capsule holding Mike Hopkins, the mission commander, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. Hopkins, Glover and Walker are all NASA astronauts.

Noguchi is with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and called the mission a "new era" of "international cooperation."

While aboard the International Space Station, the crew will take part in a range of microgravity experiments. The crew is carrying a variety of scientific hardware and materials for experiments inside the Dragon capsule, including a food physiology study to examine the effect of diet on the immune system during space travel, and s "Genes in Space" student-designed experiment of how spaceflight affects brain function.

The crew will also continue growing radishes in space, an experiment to helping to further research on how gravity and atmosphere affects plant growth. This is considered key to researching extended travel to the moon and eventually to Mars.

SpaceX will navigate the rocket back to Earth, landing it on a barge — dubbed "Just Read the Instructions" — in the Atlantic Ocean to cut costs for reuse in future missions.

Hopkins said the crew has been traveling to SpaceX facilities for training and testing of the Dragon capsule. He said he has thoroughly enjoyed the training process at NASA.

"My kids, my wife have said, `You don't go to work anymore do you? It's like you go and just play all day,"' he said. "And that's what it feels like when you come here ... and get to train. It's much more serious than that. It has real consequences, but at the same time, you know, I just absolutely love it."

Walker said she was thrilled to be part of the manned spaceflight.

"I think it is just tremendously exciting and fascinating to know that kids are growing up today that have always had people living in space, and always had the countries working together for science and engineering objectives," she said.

NASA's live webcast of the launch can be viewed here:

The City News Service contributed to this report.