四名宇航员于周日发射进入轨道，进行了历史性的首次太空飞行SpaceX作为美国宇航局商业乘员任务的一部分。
这标志着埃隆·马斯克的私人航天公司SpaceX的第二次载人任务成功发射和返回美国国家航空航天局的宇航员鲍勃·贝肯和道格·赫尔利在今年夏天的演示-2任务中。
这也是美国国家航空航天局和私营部门多年合作的高潮，作为将发射能力带回美国本土并结束对美国的依赖的努力的一部分俄罗斯去国际空间站旅行。
乔·史奇普/路透社
搭载四名宇航员的SpaceX猎鹰9号火箭发射升空，火箭顶端装有乘员龙太空舱
“这是另一个历史性的时刻——似乎每次我来到肯尼迪航天中心，我们都在创造历史，这没有什么不同，”美国宇航局局长吉姆·布赖登斯坦在周五的发射前新闻发布会上说。“这次创造的历史是，我们将向国际空间站发射我们称之为可操作的飞行。”
乔·史奇普/路透社
一枚顶部装有乘员龙太空舱的SpaceX猎鹰9号火箭已准备好搭载四名宇航员
“这里的整个目标是将我们在低地球轨道的活动商业化，”他补充说。“美国国家航空航天局希望成为低地球轨道载人航天商业市场上众多客户中的一员。”
这艘船是在周日从佛罗里达州美国宇航局肯尼迪航天中心的39A发射台发射的，此前它被推迟了——首先是为了评估猎鹰9号火箭的发动机问题，然后又是因为天气原因。
克里斯·奥米拉/美联社
美国国家航空航天局的消防队员在洛杉矶的SpaceX猎鹰9号火箭附近的围栏外的路上行驶
当选总统乔·拜登发微博他祝贺团队成功启动。
“这证明了科学的力量以及我们通过利用创新、创造力和决心所能取得的成就。他在推特上写道:“我和所有美国人以及日本人民一起，祝愿宇航员在旅途中一路顺风。”。
不久之后，唐纳德·特朗普总统发微博“一次伟大的发射!”在声称美国宇航局“在我们接管时是一场封闭的灾难”之前
"现在它又是迄今为止世界上最热、最先进的航天中心了!"他发微博。
见见不同的船员
这次历史性发射的机组人员包括一名太空部队上校、一名首次离开地球的黑人飞行员、一名在太空飞行了近4000小时的女性和一名日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的宇航员。
美国宇航局的宇航员迈克尔·霍普金斯、维克托·格洛弗和香农·沃克，以及JAXA宇航员野口聪一，将在发射后在国际空间站停留六个月，帮助维护和研究。
乔尔·考斯基/美国国家航空航天局
美国宇航局宇航员维克托·格洛弗，左前方，迈克·霍普金斯，右前方，香农·沃克，左后方，和日本
这次任务的指挥官霍普金斯在太空度过了166天，完成了多次太空行走。这位密苏里州人在加入美国国家航空航天局之前，曾在空军担任飞行测试工程师。
这是飞行员兼二把手格洛弗的首次太空飞行。格洛弗是加州人，2013年被选为宇航员，是前海军飞行员。
沃克是团队的任务专家。她是国际空间站的老兵，2010年在轨道实验室度过了161天，进行了无数次实验。
野口勇也是一名任务专家，他是第一名美国国家航空航天局-太空探索中心(NASA-SpaceX)的国际成员。野口勇已经进行了两次太空飞行，并于2005年作为第一位在国际空间站外进行太空行走的日本宇航员创造了历史。
乔尔·考斯基/美国国家航空航天局通过盖蒂图像
美国国家航空航天局宇航员维克多·格洛弗，左前方，迈克·霍普金斯，右前方，香农·沃克，左后方，贾帕
上月下旬，机组人员表示，他们将自己的航天器命名为“复原力”——这是对在这动荡的一年中克服无数挑战的能力的认可。
霍普金斯在新闻发布会上说:“当你看着弹性的定义时，我知道它意味着在压力或克服不利事件时发挥良好的作用，我想我们所有人都可以同意，2020年肯定是充满挑战的一年。”。
“所以‘弹性’这个名字实际上是为了纪念SpaceX和NASA的团队，坦率地说，这是为了纪念我们的家人、我们的同事、我们的同胞、我们的国际伙伴和我们的领导人，他们在这些困难时期都表现出了同样的品质和同样的特点，”他补充说。
4 astronauts launch for ISS in historic NASA-SpaceX mission
Four astronauts launched into orbit on Sunday in the historic first operational flight forSpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA's commercial crew mission.
This marks the second-ever crewed mission for Elon Musk's private space-faring firm SpaceX, after thesuccessful launch and returnof NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley with the Demo-2 mission this summer.
It is also the culmination of years of collaboration between NASA and the private sector as part of an effort to bring launch capabilities back to U.S. soil and end a dependency onRussiafor trips to the International Space Station.
"This is another historic moment -- it seems like every time I come to Kennedy [Space Center] we're making history, and this is no different," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a pre-launch news conference on Friday. "The history being made this time is we're launching what we call an operational flight to the International Space Station."
"The whole goal here is to commercialize our activities in low-Earth orbit," he added. "NASA wants to be one customer of many customers in a very robust commercial marketplace for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit."
The ship launched on Sunday from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after being pushed back -- first to assess an engine issue with the Falcon 9 rocket and then once more due to weather.
President-elect Joe Bidentweeted outhis congratulations to the team on their successful launch.
"It's a testament to the power of science and what we can accomplish by harnessing our innovation, ingenuity, and determination. I join all Americans and the people of Japan in wishing the astronauts Godspeed on their journey," he tweeted.
A short time later, President Donald Trumptweeted"A great launch!" before claiming that NASA "was a closed up disaster when we took over."
"Now it is again the "hottest", most advanced, space center in the world, by far!" he tweeted.
Meet the diverse crew
The crew for the historic launch includes a Space Force colonel, a Black pilot leaving Earth for the first time, a woman who has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space and a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut.
NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are set to stay on the ISS for six months after the launch and help with maintenance and research.
Hopkins, commander of the mission, has spent 166 days in space and completed multiple space walks. The Missouri native worked as a flight test engineer with the Air Force before joining NASA.
This is the first spaceflight for Glover, the pilot and second-in-command. A native of California, Glover was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and is a former Naval aviator.
Walker is the team's mission specialist. She is an ISS veteran, having spent 161 days aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2010 conducting numerous experiments.
Noguchi, also a mission specialist, is the first international NASA-SpaceX crew member. Noguchi has been on two spaceflights and made history as the first Japanese astronaut to perform a spacewalk outside the ISS in 2005.
Late last month, the crew said they were naming their spacecraft "Resilience" -- a nod to the ability to overcome the myriad challenges thrown at them during this tumultuous year.
"As you look at the definition of resilience, I know it means functioning well in times of stress or overcoming adverse events, and I think all of us can agree that 2020 certainly has been a challenging year," Hopkins said at a news conference.
"So the name 'Resilience' is really in honor of the SpaceX and NASA teams, and, quite frankly, it's in honor of our families, of our colleagues, of our fellow citizens, of our international partners and our leaders that have all shown that same quality, that same characteristic, through these difficult times," he added.
