SpaceX to launch capsule to space station in key milestone
Source: Reuters
Science News
March 1, 2019 / 12:36 PM / Updated 10 minutes ago
Joey Roulette
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Elon Musks SpaceX was due to launch an unmanned crew capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket early on Saturday bound for the International Space Station, a major step toward NASAs goal of reviving the U.S. human spaceflight program this year.
SpaceXs 16-foot-tall (4.88-meter-) Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket was set for lift off from Floridas Kennedy Space Center at 2:49 a.m. (1049 GMT) local time.
The stations three-member crew is expected to greet the capsule, carrying 400 pounds of supplies and test equipment, early Sunday morning, NASA said. During its five-day stay, U.S. astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will run tests and inspect Crew Dragons cabin.
NASA has awarded SpaceX and Boeing Co $6.8 billion to build competing rocket and capsule systems to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil for the first time since the U.S. Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-spacex/spacex-to-launch-capsule-to-space-station-in-key-milestone-idUSKCN1QI554