Q&A with Mark Mulqueen, Boeing’s space station program manager

Mission managers Tuesday granted approval to proceed with Wednesday’s rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket and Thursday’s launch to deliver the commercial Cygnus cargo ship into orbit to resupply the International Space Station.

The NASA manager overseeing development of Boeing and SpaceX’s commercial crew ferry ships says the space agency has approved SpaceX’s proposal to strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for its uncrewed missions.

Watch the launch of a commercial Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo ship bound for the International Space Station, as seen live on NASA Television.