SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft took off Saturday from historic launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first piloted orbital space mission from a U.S. spaceport in nearly a decade.
Taking advantage of a break in the weather, the 215-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 3:22:45 p.m. EDT (1922:45 GMT). Around 12 minutes later, the Falcon 9’s upper stage deployed the Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit.
These photos show the Falcon 9 launching atop nine Merlin 1D engines, each consuming kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, producing a combined 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
Email the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
