Trump on hand to watch historic SpaceX rocket launch
by Mark Moore and Jackie SaloPresident Trump arrived in Florida Wednesday afternoon to watch the historic SpaceX rocket launch — which is set to send the first Americans into orbit from US soil in nearly a decade.
Trump touched down in Air Force One at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral just before 3 p.m. to watch the Elon Musk-owned venture be the first private company to send humans into orbit.
First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence joined the president, who is expected to tour the space center and give a speech after the launch.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are scheduled to travel on the brand-new Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station.
Both space veterans, Behnken and Hurley are set for blastoff at 4:33 p.m., weather permitting. The mission could be derailed by thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes.
Musk was spotted chatting with the astronauts before they left for the launch pad in two Tesla Model X SUVs, which were built by another one of his companies.
“I didn’t even dream this could come true. I am incredibly excited to be here on behalf of the SpaceX team,” Musk said at the base.
With Post wires