--- title: "Watch the Astronauts Give Their Kids Virtual Hugs Before Launch" description: "Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley had to resort to giving their families a \"virtual hug\" from six feet away." date: "2020-05-27" modified: "2020-05-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-astronauts-hug-kids-launch" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "crew dragon" - "NASA" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Watch the Astronauts Give Their Kids Virtual Hugs Before Launch ![]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Virtual Hugs NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are officially on their way to Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Their journey could become the first time astronauts have returned to the International Space Station from American soil since 2011. Their ride is a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that's lifting off at 4:33 pm Eastern time — if everything goes according to plan and the [weather plays along](). But thanks to the ongoing pandemic, their goodbyes to their loved ones were bittersweet: Behnken and Hurley had to resort to giving their families a "virtual hug" from six feet away, thanks to social distancing rules — and to ensure that the coronavirus won't make it into space. https://twitter.com/mirikramer/status/1265693339002769408 ## Better Safe It was an emotional scene. "Well, I'm crying," *Axios Space* editor Miriam Kramer [wrote on Twitter](). Both astronauts have been under quarantine since May 13. Contact with others has been kept to a minimum. SpaceX has already completed [more than twenty]() trips to the space station to date, albeit without passengers on board. Here's to hoping Behnken and Hurely make it to the space station safe and sound as well. **More on the launch:** [Stormy Weather May Delay SpaceX’s Historic Launch]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()