KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — In less than a week, Florida’s Space Coast will see the first operational launch to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew program.
SpaceX plans to launch four astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon “Resilience” at 7:49 p.m. Saturday.
The astronauts arrived Sunday afternoon as preparations are underway for the upcoming launch.
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“For the crew, we’re ready,” said NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins. “We’ve spent the last couple of weeks kind of fine-tuning our training, and we’ve also had the opportunity to spend a little time at home with our families, and we’re truly honored to be part of this new era.”
Hopkins will launch along with fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They will spend about six months aboard the space station.
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“What we’re doing is transitioning from a test flight to operational flights. Make no mistake - every flight is a test flight when it comes to space travel, but it’s also try we need to be able to routinely go the ISS,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
There’s still a busy week ahead of the Crew-1 launch. Teams will review all aspects of the mission, including launch, rendezvous and docking.
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The flight readiness review begins Monday, but concerns over Tropical Storm Eta have delayed the mission’s Falcon 9 rocket static fire test.