Elon Musk’s SpaceX sends 2 astronauts into space

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Astronauts say goodbye to the family before takeoff.

Four years after Elon Musk began the project, and nine years after the last launch on U.S. soil, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, and Musk’s SpaceX have sent two Americans into space with the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. .

The destination is the International Space Station, ISS. Since after 2011, Americans had been traveling into space on Russian “flights”.

Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Launch Complex 39A at 3:22 pm ET on Saturday. It was exactly 8:22 p.m. Saturday in Nigeria.

“Let’s light this candle,” said Commander Hurley just before takeoff.

According to UKMailThere was a 50 percent chance that the Falcon 9 wouldn’t take off due to the sinister clouds and lightning risks, but the weather cleared up with just 45 minutes remaining on the clock’s countdown.

The mission is also the first time that a private company has sent astronauts into space and is the second launch attempt after Wednesday’s flight was aborted due to storm Bert.

It will take nine minutes for Falcon 9 to reach orbit and then Crew Dragon will have a 19-hour trip to the International Space Station once it separates from the rocket.

The International Space Station was only accessible to NASA astronauts by purchasing seats in Russian capsules launched from Kazakhstan, but all that has changed until today.

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