All Systems Go!

This 7 seated beast may not be holding a full crew but two lucky (maybe?) astronauts will have liftoff if everything works out as planned. Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will be the first occupants on Dragon 2 that will make their way to the International Space Station where they will dock and hang out with the rest of their crew for a stay, between one and four months.

SpaceX will be making history today. Glad we can all be a part of this major step forward.

To the moon and beyond! Rather.. The International Space Station.

If all goes well, the following schedule shows:

May 27, Wednesday (Today)

4:33 pm EST (20:33 GMT) - Launch

May 28, Thursday

7:20 a.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
11:39 a.m. – Docking
1:55 p.m. – Hatch Open
2:25 p.m. - Welcome Ceremony
4:15 p.m. – Post-arrival news conference at Johnson Space Center

May 29, Friday

11:05 a.m. - International Space Station Expedition 63 crew news conference with Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley of NASA
12:50 p.m. - SpaceX employee event and Class of 2020 Mosaic presentation, with NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley

Live coverage can be seen below:



One of many sources

How many hours before lunch ?

60% chance of favorable launch weather.

Great for U.S to be independent once again in space travel instead of paying the Russians to transport astronauts to I.S.S.

All good i guess until lifes are lost. Until then.

originally posted by: Spacespider
How many hours before lunch ?

Sorry. Updated.

4:33 pm Eastern (20:33 GMT)
3:33 pm Central
1:33 pm Western

a reply to: StallionDuck

It's a sad state of affairs when our own space program can't put an astronaut into orbit.
Bureaucracy has been destroying NASA since the planning stages of the disastrous shuttle program.

Fortunately prove industry is not hampered with that bureaucracy.
I'm not a big fan of musk but I will give him props for space x.. Much deserved respect on space x.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Looking forward to watching this in the UK,Cheers for the link.


9.30pm launch for UK viewers.

I hope all goes smoothly and this is the start of many more manned launches.
I was just reading about the space suits-they are designed by some dude who has also designed costumes for Tron,and some marvel superhero movies!
And the interior of the crew dragon looks pretty sci fi too.

Godspeed, SpaceX! Hoping for a nominal flight today!

a reply to: StallionDuck

I feel it is meant to go boom.

Guess not long to find out.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Live coverage is also on DirecTV, Discovery channel 278, starting at 12 noon EDT with live coverage starting at 2 pm EDT, and also on the Science channel 284 with just live coverage also at 2 pm EDT.

Someone with Dish could give the Discovery and Science channel info.

I just can't get excited about any of this. Here we are, about 50 years after first landing a human on the moon and still we have not gone back there after that first blush of success.

Where are the permanent bases on the moon? Where is the program to take us out to Mars. And for crying out loud, where is a space station. A real space station, not this kludge of a tacked together vehicle that is itself likely to be decommissioned
in the next four years.

The Trump administration has proposed that the US stop funding the ISS and hopes have been for private industry to go ahead and build something to replace it. But where is that development? I don't see or hear anything about it.

So yeah, it's smooth that the Dragon will take a couple more guys up to ISS. But from all that I can see, all that we have is vestiges of the old hope and flame of human expansion into the solar system. But from what I can see at this point it's all just window dressing for that older dream that never came true.

originally posted by: StallionDuck

originally posted by: Spacespider
How many hours before lunch ?

Sorry. Updated.

4:33 pm Eastern (20:33 GMT)
3:33 pm Central
1:33 pm Western

I am no good at global times or pm or am... that was why I asked how many hours from now.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

Don`t feel bad man, there are bases in the moon and on mars, most likely in other places too, but hey, who does it benefit if a bunch of smartphone drone monkeys know about these places and projects right?

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

A lot of the things you mentioned are not as easy as just paying for them.
There are so many science roadblocks yet to be overcome.
Low gravity living.
Moon dust.
Radiation.
Food...a bit easier on the moon but not Mars.

Anyone heading to Mars in the near future will die a horrible death.

Are those costumes for PR or the actual space suit and helmets they will be wearing for the launch?

a reply to: Spacespider

No worries! I got you covered.

You're looking at 4 hours 36 minutes

originally posted by: Spacespider
How many hours before lunch ?

You missed it man, had bacon and eggs, you should have seen it.


(sorry could not resist)

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

I just can't get excited about any of this.

Not too long after we put a man on the Moon, we became fascinated by the red LEDs in the first electronic calculators. And it has been downhill in terms of progress with mechanical conveyances since then. HUGE shift in emphasis as far as technological development went.

Cheers

a reply to: Bluntone22

Yeah, bascially Blunt, that is what I am trying to say. There are so many things to overcome that were not even considered fifty years ago. And like you say, Mars, seems to be not in the near future but in the far future. I think all of this stuff about going to the Moon and Mars is just posturing, keeping that thread of hope for our species alive for a while longer.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

You got it right.

Dreams keep the money flowing from the tax payers but the reality of watching your astronauts die of starvation or radiation poisoning on live television isn't good for public enthusiasm.

Very excited about this!

Been waiting for a long time to see the US deliver our astronauts to the station.

Hoping for a flawless mission for the two brave souls in the cockpit and the US space program as a whole.