Boeing Starliner blasts off in historic launch for NASA

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have reached space after a successful rocket launch on Wednesday morning following numerous delays.

The thunderous roar of an Atlas 5 rocket filled the air along the Florida coast on Wednesday morning as two astronauts began their journey to the International Space Station in a historic mission.

At 10:52 a.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, while in the Boeing Starliner, the first crewed flight for the spacecraft.

The weather was picture-perfect for the launch, which had been delayed several times.

It will take around 24 hours for Starliner to reach the International Space Station. After docking, Williams and Wilmore will spend eight days living in the orbiting laboratory while testing the Starliner spacecraft’s functionality before returning home. The capsule is expected to parachute to a landing at one of several possible locations across the southwestern United States.