--- title: "Liftoff! SpaceX Launches NASA Astronauts Aboard Dragon Spacecraft" description: "At 7:27 pm on Sunday, SpaceX launched a crew of four aboard a Crew Dragon module, carried into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket." date: "2020-11-15" modified: "2020-11-15" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-nasa-crew-dragon" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "NASA" - "space" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Liftoff! SpaceX Launches NASA Astronauts Aboard Dragon Spacecraft ![At 7:27 pm on Sunday, SpaceX launched a crew of four aboard a Crew Dragon module, carried into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Crew-1 At 7:27 pm on Sunday, SpaceX launched a crew of four aboard a Crew Dragon module, carried into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket. The vehicle, laden with three NASA astronauts as well as a colleague from the Japanese space agency, is now en route to the International Space Station as part of the Crew-1 mission. "Not even gravity contains humanity as we explore for all," said Mission Control as the craft soared above Florida. ## Major Dragon This isn't the first time SpaceX has launched astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon. Back in May, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley hitched a ride aboard the craft to the space station — though technically, that was a demonstration mission, whereas today's is the first of what are anticipated to be regular launches to the space station that NASA is contracting to SpaceX. If all goes according to plan, the astronauts will dock with the ISS early this week, where they'll stay for approximately six months. You can watch NASA's live feed of the mission here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg **READ MORE:** [SpaceX NASA Live Updates: Watch Astronauts Launch to Orbit]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on the launch:** *[The Space Station Is About to Be so Crowded That One Astronaut Will Have to Sleep in the SpaceX Capsule]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()