President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence reacted to the Sunday evening SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida — the second NASA-manned private craft to travel to the International Space Station.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/Unf1ScdVFB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 16, 2020
“A great launch! @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,” tweeted Trump.
A great launch! @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! https://t.co/CDCGdO74Yb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2020
The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket launched around 7:30pm EST, sending four crew members — three American astronauts and one Japanese astronaut — on course to arrive at the International Space Station late Monday evening. The astronauts themselves are traveling on board “Resilience,” the nickname given to the reusable Dragon capsule that attaches to the top of the Falcon 9 Rocket for launch.
“The launch of the Resilience Spacecraft is the culmination of four years of renewed leadership in Space. It’s a tribute to the courage of our astronauts, the ingenuity of the men and women of @NASA and @SpaceX, and the unrelenting vision of President [Donald Trump],” said Pence, who attended the launch with second lady Karen Pence.
The launch of the Resilience Spacecraft is the culmination of four years of renewed leadership in Space. It’s a tribute to the courage of our astronauts, the ingenuity of the men and women of @NASA and @SpaceX, and the unrelenting vision of President @realDonaldTrump!
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) November 16, 2020
Congratulations to Crew-1 Mission Astronauts @Astro_illini, @AstroVicGlover, Shannon Walker, & Japanese astronaut, @Astro_Soichi! These astronauts took flight with our Hopes and our Prayers! Godspeed Resilience! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/swcrvcd1pd
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) November 16, 2020
Pence, who is the chair of the National Space Council, and Trump attended the launch of the first NASA-manned SpaceX craft back in May of this year, with the president observing at the time that the sight was simply “incredible.”
“When you feel the shake, and we’re very far away, but you feel the shake over here, it’s pretty amazing,” said Trump. “A beautiful sight, a beautiful ship, too. It’s really a beauty.”
NASA certified the SpaceX human spaceflight system earlier this month, the first time the American space agency has ever done so for a commercial system.
“I could not be more proud of everyone at SpaceX and all of our suppliers who worked incredibly hard to develop, test, and fly the first commercial human spaceflight system in history to be certified by NASA,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “This is a great honor that inspires confidence in our endeavor to return to the Moon, travel to Mars, and ultimately help humanity become multi-planetary.”
Musk himself did not attend the Sunday launch, as he believes that he currently has the coronavirus.
