AMERICA’S newest capsule for astronauts is rocketing towards the International Space Station on a test flight by SpaceX.
A Falcon rocket blasted off with the Crew Dragon capsule from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The only passenger is a life-size test dummy, named Ripley from the Alien movies.
It will spend five days docked to the orbiting outpost, before making a splashdown in the Atlantic next Friday – all vital training for the next space demo, possibly this summer, when two astronauts strap in.
“This is critically important... we’re on the precipice of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil again for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011,” said Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine.
An estimated 5000 Nasa and contractor employees, tourists and journalists gathered in the wee hours at Kennedy Space Centre with the SpaceX launch team, as the Falcon 9 rocket blasted off.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here