Here are some of the most iconic shots of the historic launch and mission, which was the first human space mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.
The weather, as is often the case in Florida, was a concern in the hours before the SpaceX launch. NASA has firmly established protocols about when it is safe (or not safe) to launch, depending on the weather. Here you can see distant storms in the night sky behind the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket the night before launch, on May 29.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (R) and Doug Hurley said a careful goodbye to their families after walking out of NASA’s operations and checkout building on their way to the launch pad. Behnken is married to NASA astronaut Megan McArthur and has a young son. Hurley is married to retired astronaut Karen Nyberg and also has a son.
The two astronauts were launching during the novel coronavirus pandemic, necessitating a few extra physical distancing precautions on top of the usual quarantine to keep astronauts safe from viruses.
Tiny people, mighty rocket
(Image credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA)
Demo-2 astronauts Behnken and Hurley are just barely visible in their white spacesuits at left, inside the fixed service structure servicing their SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (at right).
The astronauts are shown here on their final walk-up to the rocket in the hours before the launch on May 30. The Falcon 9 rocket stood atop Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It’s a historic launch pad that also saw NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing mission launch, as well as many space shuttle flights.
A stormy liftoff
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
Backdropped by dramatic but non-threatening storm clouds, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken successfully blast off May 30 en route to the International Space Station.
Their launch continued flawlessly, marking the first time the SpaceX Crew Dragon has carried astronauts into space, and the third time SpaceX spacesuits have been used in space (after two missions with dummies.)
The power of Merlin
(Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The nine Merlin engines of the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage spit flame as they launch the Crew Dragon carrying astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on a Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA.
The rocket would later make a smooth landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. It’s black landing legs can be seen folded against its booster hull.
Dignitary viewing
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
In a rare visit from senior politicians, President Donald Trump (right), Vice-President Mike Pence (center) and Second Lady Karen Pence watched the Demo-2 mission make its successful launch May 30. Trump became only the third sitting U.S. president to watch astronauts launch into space from the Kennedy Space Center.
He follows President Richard Nixon’s viewing of Apollo 12 in 1969, and President Bill Clinton’s viewing of STS-95 on space shuttle Discovery in 1998. That mission carried John Glenn, one of NASA’s first astroanuts, back into space at age 77.
The Trump administration is hoping to get NASA astronauts back on the moon by 2024.
Rocket touchdown
(Image credit: SpaceX)
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley finished the last part of its mission successfully, by touching down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You just minutes after launch May 30.
SpaceX touts rocket reusability as a long-term approach to make space exploration cheaper and more sustainable, since launching costs usually gobble a large share of a mission’s budget.
With glowing touchscreens within arm’s reach at left, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley (left) and Bob Behnken give thumbs-up while sitting inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The astronauts experienced a flawless launch during the first human mission of the SpaceX spacecraft May 30.
Flying over Turkey
(Image credit: NASA)
In a spectacular example of the new being backdropped by the old, the Crew Dragon spacecraft (named Endeavour) approaches the International Space Station on May 31 while being backdropped by coastal Turkey, including the city of Demre and an overall region important to the ancient Roman empire for shipping and trade.
As the SpaceX Crew Dragon (far right) makes its approach to the International Space Station, at foreground is some of the vital infrastructure used to keep the orbiting complex running. Visible is the Japanese robotic arm attached to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Kibo laboratory module.
The astronauts docked at the Harmony module that connects laboratory modules from the United States, Japan and Europe.
Opening up
(Image credit: NASA)
The nose of the Crew Dragon spacecraft opens up in preparation for docking May 31, showing the mechanism that would connect it directly to the international docking adapter at the International Space Station’s Harmony module.
Inside, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken monitored the progress of the docking procedure.
Celebrating with SpaceX
(Image credit: NASA TV/Youtube)
A screenshot shows the crew hosting an in-flight event with SpaceX employees (on the ground) on June 1.
Along with the astronauts, stars of the event included a Class of 2020 mosaic honoring the astronauts who graduated into spaceflyer status earlier this year, along with “Tremor,” a sequined dinosaur toy made by Ty that flew on Demo-2 and “Earthie,” a plush Celestial Buddy toy that flew on the Demo-1 uncrewed test flight.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
