SpaceX Crew Dragon launch preparations in full swing with pre-dawn test firing
By William Harwood
April 17, 2021 / 4:19 PM
/ CBS News
Just five hours after a Russian Soyuz capsule brought three space station flyers back to Earth in Kazakhstan, SpaceX test fired the first stage engines of a Falcon 9 rocket in Florida early Saturday to clear the way for Thursday's planned launch of another four station-bound astronauts.
The Falcon 9, carrying a Crew Dragon commercial astronaut ferry ship, was hauled atop the historic 39A launch pad on Friday, a few hours before the rocket's three-man, one-woman crew arrived at the Kennedy Space Center to begin final launch preparations.