Watch SpaceX 4 astronauts for NASA on Friday

SpaceX is shooting four astronauts in the direction of the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday morning.

The company’s Crew Dragon spaceship is the first and only commercial vehicle to transport people into space. It is now a cornerstone of NASA’s human space program.

Friday’s mission, called Crew-2, is the second routine astronaut flight that SpaceX undertakes for NASA. The agency undertook a total of six Crew Dragon missions. The first one, Crew-1, is still on the ISS. These astronauts will welcome the four newcomers: Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of the Japanese Aeronautical Exploration Agency and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency.

Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“We want it to become a regular way to get to the space station, which means I do not know, hundreds of launches in a row,” Pesquet said during a news conference in March.

The astronauts are climbing a launch tower to the top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, aboard the Crew Dragon capsule attached at the top, and then roaring into space on Friday at 05:49 ET .

“We are ready and we are excited to fly,” McArthur told the news conference.

Check out the historic spaceflight on NASA’s live stream below.

Watch SpaceX’s recycled Crew Dragon Endeavor fly back into space

NASA

NASA begins live coverage of the Crew-2 launch on Friday at 1:30 a.m. ET, as the astronauts fit into their SpaceX space suits. Afterwards, the astronauts will say goodbye to their families, drive some custom Teslas to the launch pad, ascend the launch tower and climb aboard Crew Dragon.

With the astronauts tied up and the spaceship’s hatch closed, the rocket will be loaded with cryogenically cooled propellant. If all goes well, it should roar past the loading dock, at 5:49 ET.

NASA TV has live coverage of the preparation, countdown and subtraction of launches:

This particular Crew Dragon capsule, called Endeavor, is the same one that flew the first commercial spaceflight last year, which transported NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS in a demonstration mission. The capsule has meanwhile been refurbished and upgraded.

McArthur will steer the spaceship, just like Behnken (her husband) last summer.

“I’m going to start on the same seat. So it’s a fun thing we can share, you know, I can tease him and say, ‘Hey, can you hand over the keys? I’m ready to go now,’ ‘he said. McArthur recently said in a press release.

The Falcon 9 booster, which is also reusable, is the same as the Crew-1 launched in November.

Friday’s launch was originally scheduled for Thursday morning, but NASA has rescheduled due to an unfavorable weather forecast. If the weather prevents the flight again on Friday, the agency could have its next launch event on Monday.

After launch, Crew Dragon must orbit the dock and dock at the ISS

NASA / SpaceX

Once the Crew Dragon slides into orbit, it will stay there for almost 24 hours. The astronauts will likely get out of their space suit, eat, sleep all night, eat breakfast, organize their belongings and finally dress up their spaceships again to prepare for arrival at the ISS.

SpaceX and NASA expect the Crew Dragon to perform a series of automatic maneuvers to dock at the ISS on Saturday around 5:10 p.m. The astronauts need to be adjusted if something goes wrong and the crew sheet needs to return to Earth prematurely. NASA TV will also broadcast the dock work.

SpaceX

The ISS will be carrying at least four people for at least four days while Crew-1 is still on board. The astronauts – Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi – will climb into their own Crew Dragon capsule on April 28.

Their capsule, called Resilience, will then disengage from the ISS, push itself to Earth and descend through the atmosphere. Parachutes must be released so the spaceship can float to the coast of Florida after a splash.

The Crew-2 astronauts will return in the same way in about six months.