NASA plans to launch a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station this Saturday, November 14, 2020 — weather and paint permitting.
There’s a tropical storm working its way up the coast of Florida that could delay the launch. Problems with the enamel paint interfering with jet openings caused a prior delay.
However, if NASA overcomes such obstacles and the launch is a GO, this will be the first regular manned space mission launched from the United States since the end of the space shuttle.
The NASA astronauts will head to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
A successful test flight of SpaceX Dragon splashed down in August carrying two astronauts safely home.
Saturday’s “Crew-1” flight marks the first use of the Dragon capsule for the ISS’s regular crew rotation.
Here is the SpaceX Crew-1 official crew portrait with (from left) NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
Let’s hope for a big success Saturday which will lead to frequent, routine, affordable manned space flight on American rockets.