Astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of historic mission

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. (NBC) – Two astronauts traveled from Houston to Florida Wednesday where they will participate in the first manned launch from U.S. soil in nearly a decade, slated to take place next week.

Families from NASA astronaut Robert Behnken’s community in Texas gave him a big sendoff Wednesday as he left to go to Ellington Field.

Behnken and fellow astronaut Douglas Hurley then flew to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The two astronauts are scheduled to travel to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Demo-2 mission on May 27th.

This will be the first manned launched of a spacecraft from U.S. soil since Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off on July 8, 2011.

The mission is aimed at testing the viability of the SpaceX crew transportation system, according to NASA officials.

“Both Doug and I are really excited to be here,” Behnken said. “This is an awesome time to be an astronaut with a new spacecraft to get a chance to go and fly. As graduates of military test pilot schools, if you gave us one thing that we could’ve put on our list of dream jobs that we would’ve gotten to have someday, it would’ve been to be aboard a new spacecraft, be conducting a test mission aboard that spacecraft and Doug and I get that chance to do it. So, we’re thankful for that opportunity and we view it as an opportunity but also a responsibility for the American people, for the SpaceX team, for all of NASA that’s put this opportunity together and Entrusted us with it.”

Hurley said, “I happen to have been one of the four astronauts that landed here almost nine years ago in T38’s on the 4th of July of 2011 to close out the Space Shuttle Program, so it’s incredibly humbling to be here to start out the next launch from the United States.”

The launch is the final test before the system can be certified for regular Commercial Crew flights.

The astronauts will take off at 1:33 p.m. PST on Wednesday, May 27th.

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