KEY POINTS

  • Images and footage from NASA and SpaceX show the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon in position
  • Preparations for the historic launch continue as the launch date nears
  • The Flight Readiness Review for Demo-2 is expected to conclude on Friday

Images from NASA and footage from SpaceX show the Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft in position on the launch pad as preparations continue for Demo-2 a week before the historic launch.

NASA shared images of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon being rolled out and raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. NASA's iconic "worm" logo can clearly be seen plastered onto the side of the Falcon 9 as it is being rolled out, while the SpaceX logo can be seen as it is being raised.

In a tweet, SpaceX also shared a 15-second video showing the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon being raised into vertical position.

The preparations for the launch are pushing through just days before the historic launch that will mark the United States' return to human spaceflight after almost a decade. When the Demo-2 mission takes off to the International Space Station on May 27 with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on board, it will be the first time American astronauts will be launched on an American rocket from American soil since the Space Shuttle Program was concluded in 2011.

Incidentally, Hurley was the one who piloted the final Space Shuttle mission in July 2011, and will also command the U.S.' return to human spaceflight.

Behnken and Hurley are already at the Kennedy Space Center, and, on Thursday, NASA and SpaceX participated in a Flight Readiness Review in which they had thorough discussions about the requirements for the Demo-2 flight test.

"Agency and SpaceX managers gathered at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to focus on the readiness of the Crew Dragon and systems for the Demo-2 mission; the readiness of the International Space Station Program and its international partners to support the flight; and the certification of flight readiness," a NASA blog noted.

They are expected to conclude the Demo-2 Flight Readiness Review on Friday, and the agency will hold a news conference about an hour after that.

On the same day, Behnken and Hurley will hold a virtual media engagement at 2:15 p.m. ET to answer questions about the upcoming launch.

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