The arrival completed the first leg of the trip, designed to test the capabilities of the Crew Dragon capsule. But the mission will only be declared a success when the astronauts return safely to Earth in a few months’ time.

The spaceship’s hatch opened at 1:02 pm Eastern Time (1702 GMT) as Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley carried out final procedures before crossing the threshold about 20 minutes later.

Wearing black polo shirts and khaki pants, they were greeted by fellow American astronaut Chris Cassidy, as well as Russia cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

The five men posed for photos and then NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke to the crew from mission control in Houston.

“Welcome to Bob and Doug,” said Bridenstine. “I will tell you the whole world saw this mission, and we are so, so proud of everything you have done for our country.”

“It’s great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business and we’re just really glad to be on board this magnificent complex,” replied Hurley.

Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin also offered his congratulations to both NASA and Elon Musk, the boss of the private aerospace company SpaceX that built the Crew Dragon capsule.

The capsule spent 19 hours chasing down the station at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kph), before carefully aligning to its target and slowing to a crawl for the delicate docking procedure, which took place over northern China.

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NASA’s first crewed mission in nine years

NASA’s first crewed mission since 2011

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– Pandemic and protests –

During their stay Behnken and Hurley will perform more checks on the capsule to certify its readiness as the United States transitions to using the commercial sector for rides to the ISS.

The space agency has had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets ever since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011 — with 2015 the original target for a replacement program.

The United States has paid SpaceX and aerospace giant Boeing a total of about $7 billion for their “space taxi” contracts.

But Boeing’s program has floundered badly after a failed test run late last year, which left SpaceX, a company founded only in 2002, as clear frontrunner.

The launch comes as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, and as the US faces nationwide protests after a black man died in Minneapolis while being arrested by a white police officer.

Speaking to Bridenstine, Hurley said he hoped the mission would inspire young Americans.

“This was just one effort that we can show for the ages in this dark time that we’ve had over the past several months to kind of inspire, especially the young people in the United States, to reach for these lofty goals,” he said.

On Twitter, however, some retweeted the song “Whitey On The Moon” which was released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, the year after the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

The lyrics juxtaposed the injustice and economic conditions faced by black Americans with the enormous spending required for the space program.

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In this still image taken from NASA TV, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (front) and Doug Hurley reach orbit on May 30, 2020, after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida

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– Rough ride –

SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket began its voyage Saturday, blasting off flawlessly in a cloud of bright orange flames and smoke from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

“I’m really quite overcome with emotion,” Musk said. “It’s been 18 years working towards this goal.” Hurley and Behnken had named their capsule “Endeavour” after the retired Space Shuttle on which they both flew.

Asked by a lawmaker how the Crew Dragon’s handling compared to that of the shuttle, Behknen indicated the new ship was a rougher ride.

“Dragon was huffing and puffing all the way into orbit, and we were definitely driving or riding a dragon all the way up,” he said. “And so it was not quite the same ride, the smooth ride, as the Space Shuttle was.”

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft takes off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020

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– Jabs from Russia –

While Russia saluted the United States, it also stressed Sunday it was puzzled by the frenzy unleashed by what many hailed as the dawn of a new era.

“We don’t really understand the hysteria sparked by the successful launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft,” Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko said.

US-Russia cooperation is not expected to end once Crew Dragon goes into service.

NASA still plans to use Soyuz rockets to send some astronauts into space, with each seat costing around $80 million.

The United States, meanwhile, hopes to revive human space exploration, which has not risen to the expectations of the early space era.

The idea of a crewed mission to Mars has been mooted since the 1950s, and NASA has commissioned numerous studies that have never gotten off the ground.

The United States now plans to return to the Moon in 2024 under the Artimis mission, establishing a launching pad to the Red Planet by the 2030s./

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President Donald Trump flew to Florida to watch the launch and delivered remarks to NASA and SpaceX employees on what he called a “special day”

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Two veteran NASA astronauts were headed for the International Space Station on Saturday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX became the first commercial company to launch a rocket carrying humans into orbit, ushering in a new era in space travel.

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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (rear) and Doug Hurley are strapped in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

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SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off flawlessly in a cloud of bright orange flames and smoke from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for a 19-hour voyage to the space station.

“Let’s light this candle,” Hurley, the mission commander, told SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, before liftoff at 3:22 pm (1922 GMT) from NASA’s storied Launch Pad 39A.

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Spacex founder Elon Musk celebrates after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

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The SpaceX launch is the first of American astronauts from US soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 and the first crewed flight ever by a private company.

“I’m really quite overcome with emotion,” Musk said. “It’s been 18 years working towards this goal.

“This is hopefully the first step on a journey towards civilization on Mars,” the SpaceX founder said.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said it was a “great day” for NASA and SpaceX and an “important milestone for the nation.”

“We’re not celebrating yet,” Bridenstine cautioned. “We will celebrate when they’re home safely.”

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The Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage separates from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

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In a brief interview from space, Hurley said that in keeping with the tradition of having astronauts name their spacecraft, he and Behnken had named the Crew Dragon capsule “Endeavour” after the retired space shuttle on which they both flew.

Behnken said the SpaceX capsule is a “lot different than its namesake” in that “it has touch display screens.”

The mission, dubbed “Demo-2,” ends a government monopoly on space flight and is the final test flight before NASA certifies SpaceX’s capsule for regular crewed missions.

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(L-R) Karen Pence, US Vice President Mike Pence and US President Donald Trump watch the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch

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Behnken, 49, and Hurley, 53, former military test pilots who joined NASA in 2000, are scheduled to dock with the space station at 10:29 am (1429 GMT) on Sunday.

They will join US astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner aboard the ISS.

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NASA’s first crewed mission in nine years

NASA’s first crewed mission since 2011

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– ‘Special day’ –

SpaceX said Crew Dragon was on the correct trajectory to link up with the space station orbiting 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth.

The reusable first booster stage of the Falcon 9 rocket separated cleanly about 2.5 minutes after liftoff and landed upright on a floating barge off the Atlantic coast. The second stage also separated smoothly.

The launch had originally been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed because of weather conditions, which also remained uncertain on Saturday right up until liftoff.

The mission comes amid the coronavirus crisis and protests in multiple US cities over the death of a black man in Minneapolis while he was being arrested by a white police officer.

President Donald Trump flew to Florida to watch the launch and delivered remarks to NASA and SpaceX employees on what he called a “special day.”

Trump first addressed the protests, saying he understood “the pain people are feeling” but that he would not tolerate “mob violence.”

Trump praised Musk and said the launch “makes clear the commercial space industry is the future.”

He also repeated his vow to send American astronauts back to the Moon in 2024 and eventually to Mars.

Behnken and Hurley blasted off from Launch Pad 39A, the same one used by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11’s 1969 journey to the Moon.

– Defining moment for SpaceX –

The pair, veterans of two space shuttle missions each, were in quarantine for more than two weeks ahead of the flight and were regularly tested for COVID-19.

They went through the same preparations Saturday that they went through on Wednesday, donning their futuristic SpaceX-designed spacesuits four hours before launch.

After saying goodbye to their wives — both former astronauts — they were driven to the launch pad in an electric car built by Tesla, one of Musk’s other companies.

The Crew Dragon mission is a defining moment for SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002 with the goal of producing a lower-cost alternative to human spaceflight.

The US space agency paid more than $3 billion for SpaceX to design, build, test and operate its reusable Dragon capsule for six future space round trips.

NASA has had to pay Russia for its Soyuz rockets to take US astronauts to space ever since the shuttle program ended.

SpaceX conducted a successful test flight of Crew Dragon to the ISS in March 2019 with a sensor-laden mannequin on board named Ripley, after the character played by Sigourney Weaver in the “Alien” movies.

The project has experienced delays, explosions, and parachute problems — but even so, SpaceX has beaten its giant competitor Boeing to the punch.

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SpaceX’s historic first crewed mission to the International Space Station was set to proceed as scheduled on Saturday, NASA said, although uncertainty remained over weather conditions.

“We are moving forward with launch today,” NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said in a tweet. “Weather challenges remain with a 50 percent chance of cancellation.”

“Proceeding with countdown today,” said SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

Weather forced the postponement on Wednesday of what would have been the first launch of American astronauts from US soil in almost a decade, and the first crewed launch ever by a commercial company.

The Falcon 9 rocket with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule is scheduled to launch at 3:22 pm Eastern Time (1922 GMT) on Saturday.

The next window, which is determined by the relative positions of the launch site to the space station, is Sunday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT), and fair weather is predicted.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, 49, and Douglas Hurley, 53, former military test pilots who joined the space agency in 2000, are to blast off for the ISS from historic Launch Pad 39A on a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The same launch pad was used by Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crewmates on their historic 1969 journey to the Moon, as NASA seeks to revive excitement around human space exploration ahead of a planned return to Earth’s satellite and then Mars.

The mission comes despite shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with the crew in quarantine for more than two weeks.

NASA has urged crowds to stay away from Cocoa Beach, the traditional viewing spot — but that did not deter many space fans on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump, who flew in for the previous launch attempt, is expected to attend again.