SpaceX Dragon Launches Four Astronauts toward Space Station

Falcon 9 lifts-off with Crew Dragon 1 from KSC on Nov. 15. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted-off from America's Space Coast on Sunday evening with four astronauts beginning the first flight of an operational Crew Dragon spacecraft.

NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan's Soichi Noguchi are on course to dock with the International Space Station on Monday. They are scheduled to live and work aboard the orbital outpost for six months.

Crew Dragon 1 thundered away from the Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39-A at 7:27:17 p.m. EST, riding a top the Falcon 9. The candlestick rocket darted out over the Atlantic waters at the exact moment the space station was 260 miles overhead.

"To all the people at NASA and SpaceX, by working through these difficult times you've inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle," Dragon commander Hopkins radioed minutes before launch. "And now it's time to do our part -- Crew One for all."

The astronauts named their spacecraft Resilience by the crew to highlight the dedication of the teams involved with preparing the mission for flight. The successful launch occurred on the heels of a test flight by two NASA astronauts last May.

NASA Astronauts Lift-off from America's Space Coast

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two NASA astronauts lifted-off from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to begin the first U.S. crewed launch to the International Space Station in nine years.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken boarded the commercial spacecraft known as Crew Dragon 2 at historic launch pad 39-A. As the countdown ticked toward zero, the launch team ran a smooth count and weather was go.

X-37B Lifts-off to Begin a Multi-Research Mission for Space Force

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The U.S. Space Force's uncrewed X-37B space shuttle lifted off into the blue skies over America's Space Coast on Sunday to begin military science research in space.

This sixth flight of the X-37B program is the first under the management of the Space Force. As the previous five flights under the Air Force were top secret, several payloads have been announced for this mission.

Based at the Kennedy Space Center, there are two Orbital Test Vehicles in service. They are serviced in a building once used to prepare NASA's space shuttle fleet for flight. The X-37-B is 25:100 scale compared to NASA's orbiters.

NASA Apollo 13 Upper Stage Impacted the Moon During the Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The astronauts aboard the aborted flight of NASA's Apollo 13 may not have landed on the Moon, one section of their spacecraft did make a landing for scientific results.

The third stage of the Saturn V rocket known as the S-IVB was used to place the crew in the direction of the Moon. The S-IVB-508 stage housed the lunar lander Aquarius and the command module Odyssey, attached to its service module.

During the previous Apollo 12 landing, NASA had deployed one seismometer on the Moon's surface. The S-IVB impact occurred on April 14, 1970, at 77 hours, 56 minutes after the launch on April 11. The impact occurred 84 miles from that seismic station.

Odyssey of Apollo 13 Became NASA's 'Successful Failure'

Crew of Apollo 13 the day before launch at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The odyssey of NASA's Apollo 13 lifted-off fifty-years ago on Saturday to begin the third crewed mission to land on the Moon but quickly became a mission of survival in deep space.

The flight of Apollo 13 has been called “a successful failure”. It was successful in how the crew worked with mission control to return home, but a failure in that the lunar landing was aborted.

A veteran of three previous spaceflights, James (Jim) Lovell commanded the flight. Command Module pilot John (Jack) Swigert and Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise, both rookie astronauts, rounded out the crew.

Akron Classmates Achieved High Flying Jobs as Astronaut, Blue Angel

AKRON, OHIO -- Two high school classmates driven early by different goals found themselves a decade later working in similar career fields -- one a top naval aviator and one a NASA astronaut.

On June 6, 1966, Stuart Robinson Powrie and Judith Arlene Resnik graduated with their senior class from Firestone High School. Their families and the educators at the Akron, Ohio school had inspired the two to climb higher and travel farther.

Stu (as he liked to called) was a competitive swimmer during high school, a sport he continued during his years at the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1970, Powrie graduated from the academy, but not before he set two Navy records as a competitive swimmer.

Judy loved classical piano, however she loved mathematics even more during high school. She even earned a perfect score on her SAT exam. In 1970, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering.

Upclose: Two Engineers Discuss Servicing Space Shuttle Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's space shuttle fleet served as an orbiting workshop for thirty years -- a space truck which delivered a variety of spacecraft and segments of the International Space Station into orbit.

Five space-worthy orbiters were built to allow astronauts to live and work in space. Behind the pressurized living quarters, a massive 60-foot cargo bay housed commercial and scientific satellites, or a pressurized module, which extended the volume of the crew's work space.

Each orbiter named to honor a sailing vessel -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Each was structurally built the same, however there were differences to those who knew them on an intimate basis.

Between 1981 through 2011, NASA launched 135 space shuttle missions from the Kennedy Space Center. Of those, two orbiters -- Columbia and Challenger -- did not return home after launch due to failures.

At the Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex, one shuttle is on display following her retirement. Atlantis, a veteran of 33 space flights, rests inside a multi-level building built especially for the spacecraft.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Performs Successful Launch Abort Test

A Falcon 9 lifts-off on January 19, 2020, on the launch abort test. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX achieved a huge milestone in safely launching astronauts from America's Space Coast this spring as they performed an uncrewed launch abort test of their spacecraft on Sunday.

This flight test of the Crew Dragon's launch escape system now moves SpaceX and NASA closer to launching astronauts from American soil. While NASA is focused on returning first to the moon, SpaceX will taxi astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

"SpaceX’s in-flight demonstration of Crew Dragon’s launch escape capabilities is designed to provide valuable data toward NASA certifying the spacecraft to begin carrying astronauts to and from the Space Station," SpaceX Spokesperson James Gleeson said on Saturday.

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Internet Relay Satellites into LEO

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts-off from Cape Canaveral AFS on January 6. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new decade of rocket launches began Monday evening as a SpaceX Falcon 9 thundered away from America's Space Coast to place 60 internet-relay satellites into orbit.

This launch was confirmed as the first official rocket launch under the new U.S. Space Force.

SpaceX is in the midst of building and launching their own network of data and Internet spacecraft known as Starlink. The commercial company hopes to blanket the Earth with thousands of Starlink spacecraft located at about 350 miles above.