SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Launch With NASA Astronauts: All You Need To Know About Mission Demo-2

On May 27, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX will attempt to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in a mission called Demo-2. This will mark the first time in history that a commercial aerospace company has carried humans into Earth's orbit. The launch of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is moving forward despite the COVID-19 pandemic. NASA says it must carry on with the mission in order to keep the International Space Station, a giant orbiting laboratory, fully staffed with US astronauts. NASA & SpaceX are currently targeting May 27 at 4:33 pt ET for liftoff from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Florida. If bad weather or technical issues get in the way, NASA has May 30 and May 31 as backup days. SpaceX & NASA will be cohosting a webcast during takeoff, and they'll keep that live coverage rolling at least until Crew Dragon docks with the space station about 19 hours after launch. NASA's webcast of the SpaceX launch will begin at 12 pm EDT (1600 GMT). Two astronauts, Robert Behnken (49) & Douglas Hurley (53) will be flying to space.