NASA Astronauts Arrive At Kennedy Space Centre Before Historic Mission

To prepare for their historic mission next week, Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have reached the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

.@NASA astronauts @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug arrive @NASAKennedy's Launch and Landing Facility, one week ahead of the scheduled liftoff aboard the @SpaceX Crew Dragon to the @Space_Station. #LaunchAmerica Photos: https://t.co/8due5jBg5Y (keep checking back for more!) pic.twitter.com/0wITncfXzE

— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) May 20, 2020

Nasa has traditionally always maintained and managed its space vehicles. However that was an ability it gave up in 2011 when it retired the last of the space shuttles.

The mission is historic as this time the duo will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) in a rocket and capsule system produced by a commercial company, SpaceX.

This is only the fifth time American astronauts will fly to the orbit in a brand new spacecraft design.

Hurley and Behnken were in quarantine in Texas and will continue protecting their well-being at Kennedy as they get ready for the planned lift-off on Wednesday.

The rocket, a Falcon-9, and capsule, called Dragon, will be wheeled out to complex 39A, the spaceport's famous launch pad, in the coming days for its static fire test check. 

About the Dragon, Hurley said: "It's just an amazing vehicle. It's definitely not the space shuttle. It's much smaller; it's a capsule. It's state-of-the-art from a technology standpoint, and we are so excited to be in a real spaceship and not the simulator here in just a week."

The launch is a pivotal moment in NASA's approach to change the way it carries its space activity.

"This time we're doing it differently than we've ever done it before. We are partnering with commercial industry with the intent that they would go get customers that are not Nasa, and drive down our costs and increase the access to space," said Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

The goal is to extend the concept to operations in deeper space. At present, this model only covers flights to a few hundred kilometers above the Earth, to the ISS.