SpaceX rocket lifts off on historic private crewed flight
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches into space with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (right) and Doug Hurley aboard the rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
What you need to know:
- The first crewed flight from US soil since the space shuttle programme ended in 2011 had originally been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed because of weather conditions.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying two veteran NASA astronauts lifted off on Saturday on a historic first private crewed flight into space.
The two-stage SpaceX rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off smoothly in a cloud of orange flames and smoke from Launch Pad 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the 19-hour voyage to the International Space Station.
The first crewed flight from US soil since the space shuttle programme ended in 2011 had originally been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed because of weather conditions, which also remained uncertain on Saturday right up until liftoff at 3:22 pm (1922 GMT).
