At exactly 7:27 p.m. ET on Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster burst to life at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, its engines lighting up the Florida coast. The picture-perfect launch of the gumdrop-shaped Crew Dragon spacecraft — nicknamed Resilience — marked a historic moment in American spaceflight.
Not since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 has NASA sent humans to orbit from American soil in an operational mission. The launch for this particular mission has been delayed, pushed back and postponed multiple times — the original timeline included a launch date of November 2016. Four years and a few technical stumbles later, Resilience has now docked with the International Space Station.
“By working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part, the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience,” Michael Hopkins, spacecraft commander of Crew-1, said prior to launch.
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