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Space X Launch: Astronauts, liftoff time, date, how to watch it live and all you need to know about the historic mission

Here's all you need to know about Space X's historic Crew Dragon astronaut launch
UPDATED MAY 27, 2020
Bob Behnken (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Bob Behnken (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The stakes are astronomically high for Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, which is touted to become the first commercial spaceflight company to launch astronauts into space on Wednesday (May 27). Apart from making history with its first astronaut launch, the Demo 2 test flight will also mark the dawn of a new era of human spaceflight in the United States, which hasn't launched astronauts into space, ever since the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

"This is a unique moment where all of America can take a moment and look at our country do something stunning again, and that is launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil, and we're going to go to the International Space Station. And what we do there, of course, is we're transforming how we do spaceflight in general," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a press conference on Tuesday, May 26.

Here's all you need to know about the launch.

Launch date and time

The mission called Demo-2 is set for liftoff at 4.33 pm EDT, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. 

Where can you watch it live?

You can watch on on Space.com's homepage, courtesy NASA TV, beginning at 12 pm EDT. You can watch the broadcast on NASA's website live, or NASA TV channel. NASA will also stream coverage of the launch online via YouTube, Twitter and other social media channels. You'll be able to watch it live on ABC, the National Geographic Channel, as well as on Hulu, Roku, Sling TV, F Facebook, Twitter, YouTube TV, Apple TV and Amazon's news app on Fire devices and Fire TV.

Astronauts

Demo-2 will launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. Both of them are former military pilots who achieved the rank of colonel — Hurley in the Marine Corps, Behnken in the Air Force. They were accepted in the NASA astronaut class of 2000 on their first try. They've also been to space, twice before.  The Crew Dragon spacecraft has flown just once before, in a mission without a crew last year that is said to have gone flawlessly. 

Hurley will be the spacecraft commander, responsible for launch, landing and recovery while Behnken will be the joint operations commander for the mission, responsible for the SpaceX Crew Dragon's contact with the International Space Station as well as docking and undocking.

What is Crew Dragon?

It is a capsule, that measures about 13ft in diameter and has seven seats, and touchscreen controls. Crew Dragon and the astronauts will ride into orbit in the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After the Crew Dragon is fired into the Upper Hemisphere, the spacecraft will seperate and fire up its own thrusters to begin maneuvring towards the Space Station. The astronauts will spend 19 hours in the spacecraft before arriving at the International Space Station.

So, are you excited or are you excited? 

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