Okay, readers, friends and space fans! This week is going to be big. It’s been NINE years since America sent astronauts into space from U.S. soil. NINE. YEARS. Astronauts blasting off into space? My kids know that’s something the Russians do. Not America. Because in their lifetime, that’s been the truth.
That changes this week.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon atop, stands poised for launch at historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. The rocket and spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. Launch is slated for 4:33 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
SpaceX, the private space company owned by Elon Musk will use its Falcon 9 rocket to send astronauts to the International Space Station. Lift off is slated for Wednesday afternoon at 4:33 pm EST. You and your kids can watch it LIVE. Details below!
Obviously, I am in full geek-out alert! Let me me tell you why you should be, too. Here are THREE reasons to get pumped for the big global headline making day!
- – Americans are back in the space race at a time when space exploration and travel is exciting and promising. What are some of the goals of space programs (public and private) around the world? Building a space statin on the moon. Colonizing Mars. Landing on asteroids and mining them for precious metals. Those are just three problems scientists, researchers, engineers and big dreams are chasing down. Just three. And they are all exciting!
- – The story of SpaceX is inspiring. Elon Musk wants to go to Mars. And to his horror, years ago, he could not find any mention of a Mars mission on NASA’s website. So he tried to buy some rockets from Russia and launch a pop up greenhouse to Mars, capable of snapping a selfie of its gorgeous green leaf and inspire the world to journey to Mars. That did not go according to plan. Which led Elon to ask himself… what if I built a rocket from scratch… how should a rocket be built? And that thought lead to the start of SpaceX.
- – A woman is in charge! Gwynne Shotwell is is Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. She is a brilliant engineer and business woman. In her role at SpaceX, Gwynne takes Elon’s vision for his company and vision for the future and she makes it happen. And it’s been an extraordinary challenge. When Elon wanted to start this company, people thought he was ridiculous. It seemed not only impossible, but stupid. But he chased that goal anyway. And Gwynne has been a critical part of SpaceX’s success. How to spot Gwynne? She is usually in the control room managing the launch and usually jumps straight out of her chair when they are successful!
SpaceX President and Chief Operation Officer Gwynne Shotwell gives remarks during a NASA event announcing the astronauts assigned to crew the first flight tests and missions of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The astronauts are ready. The first launch window opens tomorrow afternoon at 4:33 pm EST. LIVE coverage will begin just after noon. You can watch it LIVE on the SpaceX website and at NASA. Weather is currently an issue. So if the launch is scrubbed due to weather, there is another launch window opening on Saturday.
On Monday, March 30, 2020 at a SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX successfully completed a fully integrated test of critical crew flight hardware ahead of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program; the first flight test with astronauts onboard the spacecraft. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participated in the test, which included flight suit leak checks, spacecraft sound verification, display panel and cargo bin inspections, seat hardware rotations, and more. Photo credit: SpaceX
To celebrate this exciting achievement, how about a GIVEAWAY!? Comment below and subscribe to my newsletter (upper right hand corner) and you could win a signed copy of my book ELON MUSK: A MISSION TO SAVE THE WORLD.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell you the THREE major problems SpaceX had to overcome to get to this historic moment.
Oh, Friends, my Star Trek mug is out! I am ready!
Anna
P.S. want to learn more about the man behind SpaceX? Click on the category “Elon Musk: A Mission to Save the World” to your right, to read all of my blog posts about Elon or grab a copy of my book!