Historic liftoff: SpaceX launches NASA astronauts into orbit
NASA astronauts blast off into space on a SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station.
Following the historic events of the combined NASA/SpaceX launch over the weekend, a photographer has captured a remarkable image of the International Space Station carrying astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley whizzing past the moon.
The composite image, taken by Italian photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza, came from a video he also took that shows the ISS at 17 different points as it sails across the moon, British news agency SWNS reports.
Panizza, 45, said he took the picture at 10:28 Italian time Sunday night, just a few hours after Behnken and Hurley docked with the ISS.
This amazing photo shows the sequence of the International Space Station gliding past the moon - carrying two NASA astronauts after they made a historic journey. (Credit: SWNS)
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"It was a very emotional moment not only for me, but for all mankind," Panizza, who is from from Parma, said.
The Endeavour capsule, which was previously known as capsule 206, made its "soft capture" docking with the ISS at 10:16 am EDT after an almost 19-hour journey to the orbiting space lab. The space station was 262 statute miles above the border of northern China and Mongolia when the docking occurred.
"Hard capture" docking was complete at 10:28 am EDT with the full docking sequence complete about two minutes later.
Hurley and Behnken boarded the ISS on Sunday in the historic Demo-2 mission with SpaceX after the hatch of was opened at 1:02 p.m. EDT.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley (right) and Bob Behnken (second right) after boarding the International Space Station, where they were welcomed by fellow astronaut and Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy (center) and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin (left) and Ivan Vagner (second left). (NASA TV)
Behnken, who was the first to enter the space station, along with Hurley, were greeted by fellow NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, commander of the Space Station’s Expedition 63, and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.
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The Crew Dragon spacecraft, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, is the first time that astronauts have launched from American soil since the final space shuttle flight in 2011.
The historic mission also marked the first time a private company, rather than a national government, has sent astronauts into orbit.
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Fox News' James Rogers contributed to this story.
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