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As it happenedended

Nasa SpaceX launch - as it happened: Historic liftoff cancelled moments before takeoff over weather

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 27 May 2020 14:02 BST
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SpaceX promo video for first crewed mission

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Nasa has postponed its first launch of astronauts from US soil in nine years due to bad weather, just minutes before lift-off.

Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were due to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on a rocket and capsule system built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's firm SpaceX.

But with rain and thunderstorms looming, the launch date has now been moved to Saturday at 20:22 pm UK time.

An estimated 1.7 million people from around the world tuned in to the launch from The Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

However, as the weather conditions became worse, the US space agency "scrubbed" the mission for safety reasons less than 17 minutes before the Falcon 9 rocket was due to take off, along with the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

Here you can see the chevrons along the floor, which indicate where people at the top of the elevator should flee if there is an emergency. If that happened, they'd get into buckets which work like zip lines and carry them safely back down to the ground.

You can also see the Pad Team, who are all wearing sleek black outfits with identifying numbers on their back. It all looks very futuristic!

Up at the top, there's also a phone, which allows astronauts to make any last phone calls before they set off.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 18:45

Here you can see a little more of those outfits being worn by the Pad Crew. They're even more futuristic than the spacesuits themselves, arguably. (Though they look sort of dystopian, while the astronauts are dressed a little more like the Jetsons dream of space.)

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 18:48

The astronauts have "ingressed" – they're in their capsule, and are getting strapped in. There's still plenty left to be done, which for now will include checks such as communications tests, and they're not setting off for more than two and a half hours.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 18:53

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:03

This might be the first time that SpaceX has sent a human into space. But the company is currently noting that they've actually been sending living things – mice – into space for years. So that work to create technology that could sustain life on its journey through space actually began before you might have thought.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:07

The astronauts are speaking to mission control. And notably we're not getting the famous mention of "Houston" when mission controllers speak with the spacecraft – because it's not Nasa who are running all of this.

Instead, the astronauts speak to "SpaceX" who identify the craft as "Dragon". "SpaceX, we have a problem" doesn't exactly have the same ring to it – though of course we hope they don't actually have to say anything like that.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:09

There's not very much going on for the next half an hour or so. The hatch on the capsule will be shut in 35 minutes, when more preparations will begin. For now, final checks and work is continuing, as the astronauts get settled into their seats.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:19

Elon Musk is speaking live, alongside Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine. (They're inside because the weather is bad.)

"This is a dream come true," he says. "I think for me and for everyone at SpaceX. This is not something I ever thought would actually happen. When starting SpaceX in 2002, I really did not think this day would occur. I expected a 90% chance we'd fail to get to low earth orbit with a small rocket.

"[If you'd have told me about today] I would have said man what are you smoking?

"To say it's a dream come true – I didn't even dream it would come true."

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:22

Musk – looking emotional – reveals the words he said to the families as they said goodbye to the astronauts.

"We've done everything we can to make sure your dads come back OK," he says.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:26

The hatch has been closed! That happened earlier than expected.

Now the Pad Team are up to something. Not quite sure what it is! Commentators suggesting it's a leak check to ensure that everything is sealed as it should be.

Andrew Griffin27 May 2020 19:33

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