In this frame grab from NASA TV video, astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley wave during a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Houston. The two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown carried out by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. (NASA TV via AP)

In this image from video made available by NASA, astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken prepare for undocking from the International Space Station, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video made available by NASA, astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken prepare for undocking from the International Space Station, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Space station commander Chris Cassidy rang the ship's bell as Dragon pulled away, 267 miles (430 kilometers) above Johannesburg, South Africa. The astronauts' homecoming will cap a mission that ended a prolonged launch drought in the U.S., which has relied on Russian rockets to ferry astronauts to the space station since the end of the shuttle era. The flag which also flew on the first shuttle flight in 1981 became a prize for the company that launched astronauts first. The next SpaceX crew flight is targeted for the end of September.

This image made available by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on Friday, July 31, 2020, shows him inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Behnken and Doug Hurley back Sunday afternoon, aiming for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. (NASA via AP)

This image made available by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on Friday, July 31, 2020, shows him inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Behnken and Doug Hurley back Sunday afternoon, aiming for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. (NASA via AP)

Astronauts returning in the early 1970s from Skylab, NASAs first space station, did not feel well following splashdown, Hurley noted. Feeling sick is the way it is with a water landing, he said during the crews final news conference from the International Space Station. The capsule has been docked at the space station since May 31, allowing Hurley and Behnken to chip in with spacewalks and experiments. The plan is for the Dragon to undock from the space station on Saturday, a day before splashdown. We wont leave the space station without some good landing opportunities in front of us, good splashdown weather, Behnken told reporters.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, SpaceX and NASA cleared the Dragon crew capsule to depart the International Space Station and head home after a two-month flight. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Tropical weather barreling toward Florida could delay this weekends planned return of the first SpaceX crew. On Wednesday, SpaceX and NASA cleared the Dragon crew capsule to depart the International Space Station and head home after a two-month flight. SpaceX is already preparing to launch a second crew to the space station at the end of September. NASA wants six weeks between the splashdown and the launch of the next Dragon crew, for capsule inspections and reviews.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The commander of the International Space Station said Monday that losing a mirror during last weeks otherwise successful spacewalk was a real bummer.NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy said he has no idea how the small mirror on his left sleeve came off. The band for the mirror is on pretty tight, he noted, and it may have caught on a metal tether attachment as he exited the airlock Friday. That was a real bummer for me.Hell use a spare for Wednesdays spacewalk, the second of four he and NASA astronaut Bob Behnken will do to replace old station batteries. Spacewalking astronauts wear a mirror on each sleeve to see the displays on their chest control panel. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

This photo provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and NASA Flight Engineer Bob Behnken during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Friday, June 26, 2020. Cassidy and Behnken, are conducting the first of at least four spacewalks to replace the last bunch of old station batteries. (NASA via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A spacewalking astronaut added to the pieces of junk orbiting the Earth on Friday, losing a small mirror as soon as he stepped out of the International Space Station for battery work. Commander Chris Cassidy said the mirror floated away at about a foot per second. Spacewalking astronauts wear a wrist mirror on each sleeve to get better views while working. Cassidy and Bob Behnken, who followed him out without mishap, were conducting the first of at least four spacewalks to replace the last bunch of old station batteries. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

It will be the first astronaut launch from NASAs Kennedy Space Center since the last shuttle flight in 2011. (SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken join NASAs exclusive inner circle by catching a ride on a SpaceX rocket and capsule. Their destination is the International Space Station, where theyll spend one to four months before guiding their capsule to a splashdown in the Atlantic. Wife Karen Nyberg, a former space station resident, retired two months ago from NASA. As joint operations commander, he'll oversee the Dragons rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station.

If it goes off as planned, this will mark the first mission involving astronauts from U.S. soil since 2011. Still, NASA astronaut Bob Behnken has said he and Doug Hurley are “really comfortable” with the risks. So you’re making educated guesses, at best.”It seems there’s just more uncharted territory when it comes to space travel. “The first astronauts really started out as test pilots,” Garfinkle said. But assuming this launch goes well, “It would be great for kids to see a successful, triumphant moment of science,” Fink said.

The two astronauts are set to travel on the SpaceX test flight to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)TITUSVILLE, Fla. For the spectators gathered along the Space Coast on Wednesday for an astronaut launch, the rumbling thunder and darkening clouds were more worrisome than any pandemic. They turned out to watch the first launch with astronauts from Florida in almost a decade, and the first by a private company, SpaceX. About half of the spectators at the Titusville park wore masks as encouraged by health officials to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. I wanted them to see the flip side and get to see the next era of space travel," said Gatz, who lives about an hour away in Deltona.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A SpaceX rocket is ready to boost two NASA astronauts into orbit Wednesday, the first launch of Americans from the U.S. in nearly a decade. Riding aboard the brand new SpaceX Dragon capsule for the historic flight: veteran NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. SpaceX is controlling the vehicle, theres no fluff about that, said Norm Knight, a NASA flight operations manager. The last time astronauts launched from Florida was on NASAs final space shuttle flight in July 2011. Development of SpaceXs Dragon and Boeings Starliner capsules took longer than expected, however, and the U.S. has been paying Russia to launch NASA astronauts in the interim.

(SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Its back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. aboard a retro-style Right Stuff capsule. SpaceXs Dragon crew capsule outshines NASAs old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way. This fresh take on a vintage look will be on full display Wednesday when SpaceX plans to launch NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station a first for a private company. Russias workhorse Soyuz capsules, still in use after a half-century plus, have kept NASA astronauts flying to the space station. A test dummy soloed on last years Dragon crew capsule debut.

It will be the first astronaut launch from NASAs Kennedy Space Center since the last shuttle flight in 2011. They'll catch a ride to the launch pad in a Tesla Model X electric car. It will be the first astronaut launch from NASAs Kennedy Space Center since the last shuttle flight in 2011. The worm adorns the Astro-Tesla, Falcon and even the astronauts' suits, along with NASAs original blue meatball-shaped logo. The white-suited Hurley and Behnken will transfer from the white Tesla to the white Dragon atop the equally white Falcon 9.

(SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The two astronauts who will test drive SpaceXs brand new rocketship are classmates and friends, veteran spacefliers married to veteran spacefliers, and fathers of young sons. Retired Marine Col. Doug Hurley will be in charge of launch and landing, a fitting assignment for the pilot of NASAs last space shuttle flight. Hurley, 53, and Behnken, 49, are NASAs first test pilot crew in decades. Crippen and the late John Young rode NASAs first space shuttle, Columbia, into orbit on April 12, 1981. Hurley and Behnken both two-time space shuttle fliers were among four astronauts chosen in 2015 for NASAs commercial crew program.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is the conductor and NASA the customer as businesses begin chauffeuring astronauts to the International Space Station. The drama unfolds from the exact spot where men flew to the moon and the last space shuttle soared from Kennedy Space Center. NASAs newest test pilots, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, are launching from home turf with SpaceX presiding over the countdown. Plagued with software problems, Boeings Starliner capsule is still a year from launching with Ferguson and two NASA astronauts. In terms of launch power, the relatively small Falcon 9 has far less than the space shuttle did, another layer of safety.

The two astronauts who will end a nine-year launch drought for NASA flew to Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, exactly one week before their historic SpaceX flight. NASA astronauts hold news conference ahead of next weeks manned space launch Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are taking part in a news conference ahead of their historic SpaceX flight next week. NASA test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken departed Houston aboard one of the space agency's jet planes. They'll soar from the same pad where Atlantis closed out the space shuttle program in 2011, the last home launch for NASA astronauts. Awaiting the astronauts at Kennedy's former shuttle landing strip were the center's director, former shuttle commander Robert Cabana, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for May 27 will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first test flight with astronauts on-board to the International Space Station. The two are scheduled to blast off next Wednesday afternoon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, bound for the International Space Station. They'll soar from the same pad where Atlantis closed out the shuttle program in 2011, the last home launch for NASA astronauts. Since then, the only way to the space station for astronauts has been on Russian rockets launched from Kazakhstan. Hurley and Behnken still dont know how long theyll spend at the space station: anywhere between one and four months.