BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Its name is Resilience.
It’s made of titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber. It can withstand temperatures exceeding 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit as it barrels through Earth’s atmosphere – but it’s more than a spacecraft. To the astronauts that named the capsule, it’s a symbol of what mankind can accomplish in the face of extreme adversity.
“I think all of us can agree 2020 has certainly been a challenging year: A global pandemic, economic hardships, civil unrest, isolation. And despite all of that SpaceX and NASA has kept the production line open and finished this amazing vehicle that’s getting ready to go on its maiden flight to the International Space Station,” Commander Mike Hopkins explained at a news conference in September.
'Godspeed on their journey'
SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company.
The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from Kennedy Space Center with three Americans and one Japanese, the second crew to be launched by SpaceX. The Dragon capsule on top was due to reach the space station late Monday and remain there until spring.
The three-men, one-woman crew led by Commander Mike Hopkins, an Air Force colonel, named their capsule Resilience in a nod not only to the pandemic, but also racial injustice and contentious politics. It’s about as diverse as space crews come, including physicist Shannon Walker, Navy Cmdr. Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi, who became the first person in almost 40 years to launch on three types of spacecraft.
"Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX on today's launch," President-elect Joe Biden tweeted Sunday . "It’s a testament to the power of science and what we can accomplish by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination. I join all Americans and the people of Japan in wishing the astronauts Godspeed on their journey."
President Donald Trump called it a "great launch" on Twitter.
The historic launch was pushed from Saturday to Sunday evening due to rough sea conditions that would not enable the drone ship to reach the discarded first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket. It’s important for NASA to recover the booster because it will be reused for the next crewed launch, which is slated for March 30.
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, were scheduled to be in attendance at Kennedy Space Center to view Sunday's launch, per a White House statement.
On Friday, teams reviewed data from the Falcon 9 static fire that took place Wednesday to ensure the nine Merlin engines and all the systems on the rocket were functioning as expected.
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A couple of
“We assessed everything that came from the vehicle and we feel very good about it. As you know, we did some work on the engines and other aspects of the vehicles as we came into this, getting ready for this launch, and that static fire is very key to ensuring that we're ready to go. And those seven seconds looked awesome," said Benji Reed, senior director of human spaceflight at SpaceX.
Reed feels this is the safest Dragon to date.
“This is the culmination of years of work and effort from a lot of people and a lot of time. We have built I think what I would call is one of the safest launch vehicles and spacecraft ever and it's an honor to be a part of that," Reed said.
Reed added that, at SpaceX, they consider their role of transporting astronauts a sacred honor and responsibility.
“We say sacred because it is sacred. We hold the lives of people in our hands. We transport them into space, stay there with them to be a lifeboat if they need it and bring them home to their families. And that is really important,” Reed said.
The astronauts also completed a dress rehearsal in which they suited up and took a ride out to the pad in a convoy of Teslas. The crew also practiced getting into the Crew Dragon capsule.
“It’s the first time we put four people in Dragon so that was an important test for us, and that test went really, really well,” NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said.
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Resilience will stay at the ISS for six months and return with the four Crew-1 astronauts in April.
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As the nation deals with coronavirus spikes and the presidential election fallout, Hopkins hopes their launch Sunday will ignite the resilient nature of the human spirit.
"We hope that it brings a smile to your face," he said. "We hope that it provides something positive in your lives and quite frankly we hope that it’s an inspiration, that it shows that when you work together there’s no limit to what you can achieve.”
Sunday launch
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon
- Mission: Crew-1
- Launch time: 7:27 p.m. EST
- Launch window: Instantaneous
- Launch Complex: 39A at Kennedy Space Center
- Landing: drone ship
- Weather: 50% "go", as of Sunday morning
Follow reporter Rachael Joy on Twitter @Rachael_Joy .
Contributing: The Associated Press
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