The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Moments before liftoff, Hurley said, “SpaceX we’re go for launch. Let’s light this candle,” paraphrasing the famous phrase uttered on the launch pad in 1961 by Alan Shephard, the first American launched into space. The last time Nasa launched astronauts into space aboard a brand new vehicle was 40 years ago at the start of the space shuttle program. Boeing Co, producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 30, 2020 21:33 UTC