These photos show the 215-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, ready for launch on a test flight to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken when weather cooperates.
The first launch attempt for the Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 mission Wednesday, May 27, was scrubbed due to the threat of lightning in the atmosphere over the Kennedy Space Center. These photos were taken Friday, May 29, as the rocket awaited its next launch opportunity.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch on the first mission from Florida’s Space Coast with astronauts on-board since the final space shuttle lifted off July 8, 2011.
The commercial crew capsule on top of the rocket is designed to carry four people to the International Space Station under contract to NASA. The test flight by Hurley and Behnken — slated to last one-to-four months — is the final shakedown cruise for the SpaceX crew capsule before regular operational missions can commence.
The Crew Dragon capsule measures around 26.7 feet (8.1 meters) tall and 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter, according to SpaceX.
See our Mission Status Center for live coverage of the Demo-2 test flight.
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