NASA Astronauts Launch From U.S. Soil to Travel to International Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Despite more storms in the forecast, two NASA astronauts have climbed into their capsule for another attempt at a history-making ride into orbit aboard a rocket ship built by the SpaceX company. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable conditions at 50-50 for Saturday afternoon’s planned liftoff, the first launch of NASA astronauts from the U.S. in nearly a decade. SpaceX and NASA are monitoring the weather not just at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, but all the way up the East Coast and across the North Atlantic. The wind and waves need to be within limits in case the SpaceX Dragon crew capsule – carrying Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken – needs to make an emergency splashdown. They’re headed to the International Space Station.