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Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts)
Sat Mar 2, 2019, 03:25 AM Mar 2019

SpaceX Is Launching a Historic Crew Dragon Test Flight for NASA Tonight! Watch It Live


By Tariq Malik 35 minutes ago



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.— SpaceX is counting down toward a historic test flight early Saturday of its first spaceship designed to carry astronauts, and you can watch the action live online.

The spacecraft, called Crew Dragon, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center here in the wee hours of Saturday, March 2, to help show the space agency that it's ready to launch astronauts. Liftoff is set for 2:49 a.m. EST (0749 GMT) from Pad 39A — the exact same site used by NASA's Apollo moon shots and where, nearly eight years ago, the agency launched its final space shuttle mission.

"We are on the precipice of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a Twitter statement. Tonight's test, he added is a "critical piece" in the path to that goal.

You can watch SpaceX's Crew Dragon launch on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT). The preparations running up to launch day have gone smoothly for SpaceX. There's an 80 percent chance of good weather for the test flight.

https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-test-launch-webcast.html
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