NASA: Next SpaceX Astronaut Launch Will Be on Halloween

Trick or treat!

Costume Party

NASA has officially set the date for SpaceX's long awaited Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station for 2:40 am EST on October 31. A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will take off on top a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Crew-1 will mark the first time that an international crew will fly aboard a commercially-owned and operated rocket and spacecraft from American soil, according to NASA.

NASA Certified

The announcement follows the successful completion of Demo-2, which saw NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley successfully launch from Cape Canaveral in May. The pair docked with the International Space Station about a day later, where they spent the next two months or so.

The crew of four scheduled to launch on Halloween includes NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker. They will also be joined by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Soichi Noguchi. The group will spend six months on the ISS.

Leak Check

In July, NASA also announced the four crew members for the Crew-2 mission, which is scheduled to launch in the spring.

According to NASA's statement, the agency is still planning to take the time before launch to go "conduct additional testing to isolate the station atmosphere leak if required." On August 20, NASA kicked off an investigation into a small air leak aboard the station, noting that none of the crew members were in immediate danger.

READ MORE: NASA and SpaceX Update Target Launch Date for the Crew-1 Mission to Station [NASA]

More on the missions: NASA Announces Crew For Upcoming SpaceX Mission