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NASA Astronauts Head for ISS on Historic SpaceX Flight

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Two veteran NASA astronauts were headed for the International Space Station on Saturday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch a rocket carrying humans into orbit, ushering in a new era in space travel.
Two veteran NASA astronauts were headed for the International Space Station on Saturday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch a rocket carrying humans into orbit, ushering in a new era in space travel.
SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off flawlessly in a cloud of bright orange flames and smoke from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for a 19-hour voyage to the space station.
“Let’s light this candle,” Hurley, the mission commander, told SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, before liftoff at 3:22pm ET (7:22pm GMT,12:52am IST) from NASA’s storied Launch Pad 39A.
The SpaceX launch is the first of American astronauts from US soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 and the first crewed flight ever by a private company.
“I’m really quite overcome with emotion,” Musk said. “It’s been 18 years working towards this goal.
“This is hopefully the first step on a journey towards civilization on Mars,” the SpaceX founder said.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said it was a “great day” for NASA and SpaceX and an “important milestone for the nation.”
“We’re not celebrating yet,” Bridenstine cautioned. “We will celebrate when they’re home safely.”
In a brief interview from space, Hurley said that in keeping with the tradition of having astronauts name their spacecraft, he and Behnken had named the Crew Dragon capsule “Endeavour” after the retired space shuttle on which they both flew.

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