HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Follow live updates from Kennedy Space Center and along the Space Coast.

While the countdown and launch Wednesday may look a little similar to the recent SpaceX launches with NASA astronauts there are several differences.

Usually, when NASA launches a spacecraft to the International Space Station, the launch window is instantaneous. If the weather or anything else isn’t good right at that very second, it doesn’t go.

This is the moment private companies like SpaceX have been working toward for nearly two decades.

The eclectic crew will become the first non-professional astronauts to orbit the planet.

SpaceX will attempt to launch four civilians from KSC after 8:02 p.m. Wednesday.

The Inspiration4 launch attempt of the first all-civilian mission is a week away and with four humans on board, the weather will be even more important. This time around, the weather will be extra tricky, <a href="https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/09/06/inspiration-4-why-the-first-all-civilian-spaceflight-is-a-very-big-deal/" target="_blank"><b>here’s why.</b></a>

Four non-professional astronauts arrived in Kennedy Space Center Thursday ahead of their SpaceX rocket launch next week, which will mark the first time a human spaceflight from Florida will not have a single NASA astronaut onboard.

He wanted to be part of the crew but as the official mission photographer, he still feels like he's also going to space.

NASA is delaying a spacewalk at the International Space Station this week because of an undisclosed medical issue involving one of its astronauts.

The first piece of hardware of the first rocket to fly humans around the moon in decades arrived in Florida this week.

Blue Origin is escalating its fight over NASA’s decision to award SpaceX a multibillion-dollar lunar contract.

The new audit found that spending on spacesuit development has more than doubled, however, the agency is nowhere near a final product ready for flight.

Boeing is assessing multiple launch dates in August to try again and send its Starliner spacecraft on a test spaceflight to the ISS.

Virgin Galactic is riding the publicity wave from its most recent flight sending Billionaire Richard Branson to space.

Moonwalkers of the Artemis generation are going to need some new gear and very soon if NASA plans to achieve its goal.

Teams at NASA and Boeing are still determining if they will try and launch the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft Wednesday.

After nearly two years, Boeing will have to wait a little longer to redo its test flight to the International Space Station with its Starliner spacecraft.

The liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is now scheduled for Tuesday at 1:20 p.m. during an instantaneous launch window.

The engines began unexpectedly firing, moving the station about 45 degrees, according to NASA.

Boeing will once again attempt to test the capabilities of its Starliner spacecraft.

Almost two years after it failed to reach the space station, this could be the month Boeing's Starliner crew capsule paves the way toward helping more astronauts launch from Florida.

Blue Origin shared a video of the weightless experience showing the four crew floating about the spacecraft and rejoicing at the views of Earth from the large windows.

For years, the official letterhead for the small town of Van Horn read simply: “Farming, ranching, mining.”.

After a historic career, astronaut Doug Hurley retired from NASA Friday.

Pioneering spacefarer John Herschel Glenn Jr. would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021.

Ten years since the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, three of her final astronaut crewmembers looked back and looked forward Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Wally Funk has waited decades to fly in space now she will get her chance flying with Blue Origin.

Space Perspective is offering travelers a relaxed ascent to space on a six-hour trip promising amazing views of Earth in a luxury environment.

Three Chinese astronauts have begun making China's new space station their home for the next three months.

Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough will be spacewalking to install the arrays Wednesday.

The next four astronauts launching on a long-term mission to the ISS are possibly blasting off on Oct. 31.

The new solar arrays provide 20-30% more power for experiments and ongoing research in space.

A chunk of space trash has left a hole in the Canadarm2 but NASA and CSA mission managers say the arm's functions won't be impacted.

General Motors is teaming up with Lockheed Martin to produce the ultimate off-road, self-driving, electric vehicle _ for the moon.

European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet took a song drop to a new level 200 miles above Earth, helping Cold Play debut its new single this week from his orbiting outpost.

SpaceX sent its gleaming Starship spaceship on a high-flying test above Texas Wednesday evening and unlike the previous flights this one remained in one piece after landing, a big milestone for the private company hoping to send people to the moon for NASA.

Plunging through the Earth’s atmosphere and splashing down by moonlight SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully returned three American and one Japanese astronaut to Earth following six months in space.

The astronauts are set to undock from the ISS Wednesday and splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

The brain behind Tesla and SpaceX gave a dire warning for anyone hoping to be among the first to travel to Mars.

The four Crew-2 astronauts will arrive at the ISS Saturday morning.

Live countdown updates leading to the Crew-2 SpaceX launch.

Each member of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission brings a unique set of skills, interests and favorite foods to the orbiting laboratory.

Choose how you want to watch the Crew-2 launch from Cape Canaveral.

For Space Coast residents able to step outside and watch rockets tear through the sky, spaceflight might seem more routine than ever.

Boeing says it will be ready to fly in May but the launch will depend on scheduling.

Four astronauts are set to arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of their launch next week.

NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship spaceship to be the first company to put astronauts back on the moon under the Artemis program.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space 60 years ago.

Sierra Nevada, the company aiming to launch and land its Dream Chaser spaceplane on the Space Coast, unveiled its take on an Earth-orbiting space station this week, joining a series of others aiming to find alternatives to the aging International Space Station, <a href="https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2021/04/01/sierra-nevada-prepping-florida-launch-unveils-space-station/4833490001/" target=_blank>reports News 6 partner Florida Today.</a>

The reason NASA and SpaceX have set days and times to launch Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station depends on a lot of factors, outside of the weather alone. The International Space Station is home to hundreds of science experiments and astronauts from several counties. On May 12, Northrop Grummans Cygnus cargo craft departed the space station. When you talk about launching to the International Space Station, your launch window is not a window at all. Bridenstine said NASA and SpaceX will get another weather update from the 45th Weather Squadron at 4 p.m. Friday.

SpaceX and NASA will possibly try again as soon as Saturday at 3:22 p.m., if the weather cooperates. After launch, Behnken and Hurley are bound for the International Space Station where they will spend one to four months before returning to Earth. But with two days between launch attempts, whats an astronaut to do while they wait to go to space? Heres what SpaceX astronauts listened to on their way to the launch pad]Behnken shared a photo on social media of that new tradition a day before the first SpaceX launch attempt. Between launch days, Lindgren said the astronauts are getting briefings from SpaceX and NASA about the health of the Falcon 9 rocket and the weather.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. After a nearly nine-year remission, its launch day for NASA astronauts from Kennedy Space Center again as SpaceX prepares to become the first private company to send humans into orbit and onto the International Space Station. Elon Musks private company SpaceX is set to launch two NASA astronauts onboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a mission known as Demo-2. After liftoff, Crew Dragon will take 19 hours to fly to the International Space Station. Veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are the lone passengers onboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. As part of NASAs commercial crew program, the U.S. space agency selected SpaceX and Boeing to develop spacecraft to fly NASA astronauts.

Orion is designed to launch on NASAs Space Launch System, or SLS rocket, also still in development. For its first journey to the International Space Station, the commercial spacecraft, Crew Dragon, carried no crew. The Crew Dragon spacecraft jettisoned away to safety, splashing down in the Atlantic and Falcon 9 was destroyed moments later. Jan. 27, 2020: First private space station agreement with NASAThe Axiom modules are targeted to attach to the International Space Station beginning in the latter half of 2024. ( )NASA announced in January Axiom Space, a private company based in Houston, will build the first stages of a private space station that will operate long after the International Space Station is retired.

pic.twitter.com/1EoolI3XNH Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) May 20, 2020Hurley was one of the last NASA astronauts to make that same trip in 2011 for the last space shuttle launch. He described Kennedy Space Center as home away from home because both astronauts spent a lot of time there during the space shuttle program. At that time, KSC Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut, was head of the NASA astronaut office. This is also similar to the space shuttle program but, again, will look very different. Stay with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for updates as American astronauts launch from Floridas Space Coast once again.

NASAs space shuttle fleet included Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour and flew a combined 135 missions in space. Heres a look back at the program that established a permanent human presence in space:1981: First space shuttle launchBeginning a new era in human spaceflight, Space Shuttle Columbia launched on STS-1 from Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. Jan. 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger tragedyOn January 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its life-off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. More than two years later, Space Shuttle Discovery marked the return to human spaceflight for NASA on Aug. 9, 2005. July 2011: The final space shuttle launchA marker to indicate where Atlantis stopped in 2011 after the final space shuttle mission.

Eight days from the first astronaut launch from American soil in nine years, NASA announced the head of its human spaceflight office had stepped down. Doug Loverro was appointed as associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in October 2019. Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Doug Loverro has resigned from his position effective Monday, May 18, the statement read. The leadership change was also not mentioned at the National Space Council meeting Tuesday attended by Vice President Mike Pence and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. The event is set to be a historic launch for NASA and SpaceX.

By the end of the Apollo program, 12 astronauts had walked on the moon. Heres a look at the events and significant moments from the Apollo program. It was the only moon mission to include a scientist on the crew, astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets. It was also the last U.S. space mission until the first space shuttle flight in April 1981.