SpaceX Launch: Falcon 9, Crew Dragon and Ground Control Pre-Flight Checkouts Underway

In advance of SpaceX's historic launch on Wednesday, the team is making their final preparations. [...]

By Stephanie Downs

In advance of SpaceX's historic launch on Wednesday, the team is making their final preparations. On Tuesday, the official SpaceX Twitter account posted an update regarding the pre-flight checkouts for the launch. Additionally, they shared that the weather forecast for the event purports that it is likely to be a "favorable" day.

On Twitter, SpaceX related to their followers that they were in the midst of pre-flight checkouts. The checkouts are reportedly being done on Falcon 9, Crew Dragon, and the ground support system. They also shared that the forecast for Wednesday, the day of the launch, showcases that there's a 60% chance that the weather will be favorable. Their post came alongside a photo of the Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft.

SpaceX's launch will be quite a historic event. It will mark the first time that the Crew Dragon will have a human-crewed mission as it heads to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon has docked on the ISS in the past, but this is the first time that it will do so with crew on board. The launch will reportedly take place on Wednesday at 4:33 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Space Center. More specifically, Crew Dragon will launch from Launch Complex 39A from Cape Canaveral, which is the same launchpad that was used to send Apollo astronauts to the moon. The astronauts aboard the spacecraft will be Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken.

SpaceX's upcoming launch will be a historic one is because it will be the first time in nine years that NASA astronauts have launched from the U.S. The last crewed mission, on Space Shuttle Atlantis, took place in 2011. According to WFTV 9 ABC, Space Shuttle Atlantis is currently on display in the Kennedy Space Center Visitors' Complex and has been since 2012. This mission is said to be the first in NASA's new phase as they are striving towards ending their reliance on Russian spacecraft to send American astronauts to ISS. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said of the organization's new period, "This is a new generation, a new era in human spaceflight. NASA has long had this idea that we need to build, own, and operate hardware to get to space."

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