Good morning and welcome to live blog coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission — the second crew rotation flight and the first with two international crew members on a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts to the space station. Launch is scheduled for 5:49 a.m. EDT from the historic Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Here at Kennedy, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped by the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft — named Endeavour by the crew — awaits liftoff early this morning. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will fly to the International Space Station for a six-month science mission.
The countdown is proceeding according to schedule. At the Florida spaceport’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, the astronauts have eaten and will undergo medical checks and get a weather briefing before suiting up.
Stay with us as the countdown continues. We’ll keep you updated on the key milestones throughout this historic mission. Starting at 1:30 a.m. EDT, on NASA Television and the agency’s website, there will be continuous live coverage of important Crew-2 activities.