Successful second attempt
After a long pause, astronauts have started again from the USA to the ISS. The start was eagerly awaited worldwide.
- For the first time, astronauts have started from the USA to the International Space Station.
- US space travelers Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Cape Canaveral on Saturday.
- The start was eagerly awaited worldwide.
—
After a break of almost nine years, astronauts have started again from the United States for the International Space Station. US space travelers Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Cape Canaveral in a “Crew Dragon” space capsule with a “Falcon 9” rocket on Saturday, as live images from the US space agency Nasa showed. “We are off the hook,” said NASA via short message service Twitter. “History has been written.”
–
The two astronauts are expected to dock with the ISS on Sunday and will stay for around a month. It is the first time that SpaceX, a private space company, has brought astronauts to the ISS. A first test start had been canceled on Wednesday due to bad weather conditions around a quarter of an hour before the start. Even before the second attempt, the weather conditions initially looked only moderate, but then the clouds cleared in time. The launch entitled “LaunchAmerica” was eagerly awaited worldwide.
–
Donald Trump had arrived
It is the last flight test for the “Crew Dragon” developed by the private space company SpaceX. SpaceX was founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk and has so far only transported cargo to the ISS. Because of the corona pandemic, access to the spaceport site in Florida, USA, where visitors are normally allowed to watch launches, was severely restricted. US President Donald Trump had arrived.
–
The last time astronauts flew to the ISS was on the Atlantis space shuttle in summer 2011. The US space agency Nasa then mothballed its space shuttle fleet for cost reasons and has since been dependent on Russia for flights to the ISS. At around 80 million euros per flight in a Russian Soyuz capsule, this was not only expensive, but also scratched the ego a lot.
–
In fact, NASA’s own flights from the USA to the ISS had already been announced for 2017 – due to technical problems, financing difficulties and restructuring after the election of US President Trump, the project was postponed.
–
(SDA)
–
