Nasa puts SpaceX in control for first Cape Canaveral astronaut launch since 2011

With the weather looking up, SpaceX and Nasa officials say crew safety is the top priority for the nation’s first astronaut launch to orbit in nearly a decade.

Veteran Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were set to make history on Wednesday, riding SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on a test flight.

On the eve of the launch, Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said from Kennedy Space Centre that both the space agency and SpaceX have been diligent about making sure everyone in the launch loop knows they’re free to halt the countdown if there is a concern.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected at Kennedy for the planned lift-off at 4.33pm local time, but “our highest priority” will remain the astronauts’ safety, according to Mr Bridenstine.

Mr Bridenstine said he texted the two astronauts on Monday and told them, “`If you want me to stop this thing for any reason, say so.

“I will stop it in a heartbeat if you want me to′.

“They both came back and they said, ‘We’re go for launch’.”

Hans Koenigsmann, a SpaceX vice president, said on Monday evening that he and other company workers have imagined themselves in the astronauts’ shoes on launch day — “or their helmets”.

“That changes the equation pretty dramatically,” he said.

SpaceX has been launching cargo capsules to the space station since 2012.

“It’s a huge step, obviously, going from cargo … to launching two people that are dads as we call them and have families, kids, wives,” Mr Koenigsmann added.

Nasa will have input throughout the countdown, but in the end, it will be SpaceX giving the final go, with Nasa’s concurrence.

“SpaceX is controlling the vehicle, there’s no fluff about that,” Norm Knight, a Nasa flight operations manager, said on Monday.

The odds of acceptable launch weather at Cape Canaveral improved to 60%.

SpaceX needs relatively calm waves and wind up the US and Canadian seaboard and across the North Atlantic to Ireland, in case astronauts Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken need to make an emergency splashdown.

If SpaceX does not launch during Wednesday’s split-second window, the next try would be Saturday.

The last time astronauts launched from Florida was on Nasa’s final space shuttle flight in July 2011.

Nasa hired SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to transport astronauts to the space station, after commercial cargo shipments had taken off.

Development of SpaceX’s Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner capsules took longer than expected, however, and the US has been paying Russia to launch Nasa astronauts in the interim.

While SpaceX said the weather was being watched closely, both astronauts expressed confidence in morning tweets.

Mr Behnken tweeted a picture of the rocket on the launchpad with the caption: “Launch Day. In America.”

Mr Hurley tweeted a picture of his breakfast, the steak and eggs combination which is a tradition for launch day, and said: “Steak and eggs. Question answered!…”