SpaceX launch of astronauts aboard Dragon Crew capsule set for Halloween

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The SpaceX launch of four astronauts aboard the newly certified Dragon Crew capsule is lining up to be kinda spooky: The launch is slated to take place in the middle of the night on Halloween under a full moon.

One person who isn’t superstitious about the timing is newbie astronaut Victor Glover.

“I was very happy that it didn’t move to November or December. The work that it has taken to get to this point with all of the things going on in the world, the difficulty of training and creating this hardware and software, the fact that we’re still able to launch this fall is amazing and a testament to this great team,” Glover told Florida Today.

His children are even happier.

“My kids think it’s great we’re launching on Halloween because they think they’re going to get to go trick-or-treating after our launch, but I try to remind them there’s still a pandemic going on out there,” he said.

Glover, who will pilot the spacecraft, will be joined by fellow astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi for the historic flight to the International Space Station. This is the first time four astronauts will fly in an Apollo-type capsule together. During the Apollo era, three astronauts made up the crew. The six-month mission will set a record for the longest time a U.S. spacecraft will be docked in orbit.

Astronauts and pilots are known for preflight superstitions, and Glover said he has one, though it’s more of a tradition. Before every flight, whether as a military test pilot or passenger, he calls his family and says a prayer.

“There’s a phone on the 265 (foot) level right before we walk into the crew access arm, and I hope that I’ll be able to call my family and hear their voices,” he said, “and then I’ll get in the vehicle and say a little prayer for the crew and for the mission and for all the systems, so I will continue that tradition.”

The SpaceX Falcon 9 will take off at 2:40 a.m. to line up with the International Space Station.

NASA’s head of human spaceflight, Kathy Lueders, said she knows everyone wishes the launch was in the afternoon like the crewed SpaceX Demo-2 launch in May.

"I was hoping I'd be able to do the same thing for this mission, but we're gonna have a great launch early in the morning instead. Night launches are very beautiful,” she said.

The launch hour may help deter spectators from traveling to the Space Coast, which was a concern during the Demo-2 launch at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Even though we suggested for Demo-2 people not to come to the launch, it certainly didn't prevent them from coming, and there were massive crowds outside of Kennedy Space Center,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said, “so what we are asking people to do is follow CDC guidelines, to follow the guidelines from the state of Florida and keep doing what is necessary to keep safe.”

NASA will limit the number of visitors who can come to Kennedy Space Center for the launch.

“We have a lot of very important missions coming up, and my No. 1 objective is to make sure that we don't have an outbreak at the Kennedy Space Center,” Bridenstine said.

If the schedule holds, Glover and the crew will return from space around the end of March or early April 2021. Upon their arrival, Glover hopes some things will have improved on Earth.

“The biggest thing is that there is a vaccine developed that’s safe and distributable so that folks can start to find some sense of normalcy and community," he said.

Follow Rachael Joy on Twitter: @Rachael_Joy.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX and NASA Crew-1 launch of astronauts set for Halloween