{"id":17726,"date":"2020-05-01T22:14:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T14:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-and-spacex-get-set-to-make-history-with-landmark-spaceflight-during-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2020-05-01T22:14:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T14:14:54","slug":"nasa-and-spacex-get-set-to-make-history-with-landmark-spaceflight-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-and-spacex-get-set-to-make-history-with-landmark-spaceflight-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA and SpaceX get set to make history with landmark spaceflight during pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participate in an integrated SpaceX test of critical crew flight hardware in March, in preparation for this month\u2019s scheduled launch to the International Space Station in a Crew Dragon capsule. (SpaceX Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everything is in readiness for the first mission to send humans into orbit from U.S. soil since NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011 \u2013 from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that will take two astronauts to the International Space Station, to the parachutes that will bring them back down gently to an Atlantic Ocean splashdown, to the masks that NASA\u2019s ground team will wear in Mission Control.<\/p>\n

The fact that the launch is coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has added a weird and somewhat wistful twist to the history-making event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat certainly is disappointing,\u201d NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, who\u2019ll be spacecraft commander for the Crew Dragon demonstration mission, told reporters today during a mission preview. \u201cAn aspect of this pandemic is the fact that we won\u2019t have the luxury of our family and friends being there at Kennedy to watch the launch. But it\u2019s obviously the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA is asking people not to show up in person to watch the liftoff, currently scheduled for 4:32 p.m. ET (1:32 p.m. PT) May 27 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge that we\u2019re up against right now is, we want to keep everybody safe,\u201d NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. \u201cThat\u2019s the No. 1 highest priority of NASA, keeping people safe, and so we\u2019re asking people not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center. And I will tell you, that makes me sad to even say it. Boy, I wish we could make this into something really spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, NASA is asking the public to tune into streaming coverage of the journey to the space station, which will run continuously from before launch to the docking 19 hours after liftoff.<\/p>\n