Tesla makeover for spacemen as Cape Canaveral prepares to launch astronauts
The first astronauts launched by SpaceX are breaking new ground for style with hip spacesuits, gull-wing Teslas and a sleek rocketship, all of it white with black trim.
The colour coordinating is thanks to Elon Musk, the driving force behind both SpaceX and Tesla, and a big fan of flash and science fiction.
Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken like the fresh new look and will take a ride to the launch pad in a Tesla Model X electric car.
“It is really neat, and I think the biggest testament to that is my 10-year-old son telling me how cool I am now,” Mr Hurley said.
“SpaceX has gone all out” on the capsule’s appearance, he said.
SpaceX and @NASA completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities with @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug ahead of Crew Demo-2 pic.twitter.com/n3B2BBBmnq
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 23, 2020
“And they’ve worked equally as hard to make the innards and the displays and everything else in the vehicle work to perfection.”
The true test comes on Wednesday when Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken climb aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and, equipment and weather permitting, shoot into space.
It will be the first astronaut launch from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre since the last shuttle flight in 2011.
On May 27, @AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug will ride atop this @SpaceX rocket to the @Space_Station, marking the first time humans have launched from U.S. soil since 2011.
Weather is 40% go for launch at 4:33 p.m. ET and live coverage begins at 12:15 p.m. ET: https://t.co/d1YYeACVXw pic.twitter.com/txhoP4Ay6a
— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) May 24, 2020
It will also mark the first attempt by a private company to send astronauts into orbit.
Only governments, Russia, the US, and China, have done that.
The historic send-off deserves to look good, according to SpaceX.
It already has a nice ring.
In preparation for #LaunchAmerica, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug participated in a rehearsal of launch day.
They're preparing to launch aboard a @SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and fly to the @Space_Station. Liftoff is slated for May 27 at 4:33 pm ET: https://t.co/HoG4JhRE2O pic.twitter.com/2HUrGJTKsx
— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) May 24, 2020
Mr Musk named his rocket after the Star Wars Millennium Falcon.
The capsule name stems from Puff The Magic Dragon, Mr Musk’s jab at all the doubters when he started SpaceX in 2002.
SpaceX designed and built its own suits, which are custom-fit.
Safety came first but the wow factor is a close second.
“It’s important that the suits are comfortable and also are inspiring,” explained SpaceX’s Benji Reed, a mission director.
“But above all, it’s designed to keep the crew safe.”
The bulky, orange ascent and entry suits worn by shuttle astronauts had their own attraction, according to Mr Behnken, who like Mr Hurley wore them for his two previous missions.
Movies like Armageddon and Space Cowboys stole the orange look whenever actors were “trying to pretend to be astronauts”.
On launch day, Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken will get ready inside Kennedy’s remodelled crew quarters, which dates back to the two-man Gemini missions of the mid-1960s.
SpaceX techs will help the astronauts into their one-piece, two-layer pressure suits.
#TheWormIsBack and it’s on the @SpaceX spacesuits that @Astro_Doug and @AstroBehnken will be wearing next week for our Demo-2 mission! #LaunchAmerica Check it out: pic.twitter.com/e8iSshObWi
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) May 20, 2020
Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken will emerge through the same double doors used on July 16, 1969, by Apollo 11′s Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the Operations and Checkout Building now bears Armstrong’s name.
But instead of the traditional Astrovan, the two will climb into the back seat of a Tesla Model X for the nine-mile ride to Launch Complex 39A, the same pad used by the moonmen and most shuttle crews.
It is while they board the Tesla that they will see their wives and young sons for the last time before flight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2020
Making a comeback after three decades is Nasa’s worm logo — wavy, futuristic-looking red letters spelling Nasa, the A resembling rocket nose cones.
The worm adorns the Astro-Tesla, Falcon and even the astronauts’ suits, along with Nasa’s original blue meatball-shaped logo.
Here are some of my favorite pics from today's Demo Mission 2 dress rehearsal! Special thanks to @nasahqphoto, @SpaceX, and my friends watching for sharing! #LaunchAmerica! pic.twitter.com/UQkn2SVadL
— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) May 24, 2020
The white-suited Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken will transfer from the white Tesla to the white Dragon atop the equally white Falcon 9.
“It’s going to be quite a show,” Mr Reed promised.