17 incredible photos from SpaceX's historic mission to send NASA astronauts to the space station

Sam Friedman/SpaceX

• SpaceX launched its first astronauts on Saturday — a mission called Demo-2.
• NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday morning.
• These are some of the best pictures taken of Demo-2's first launch attempt on Wednesday, the successful launch on Saturday, and the spacecraft's arrival at the ISS on Sunday.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SpaceX launched NASA astronauts into space for the first time on Saturday — the company's first human passengers and the first time people have ever flown a commercially developed spaceship.

This mission was the product of NASA's Commercial Crew program, a partnership between the space agency and two private companies (Boeing is the other) to build spaceships that can ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. It was the first time the US  launch its own astronauts from American soil since 2011.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley safely arrived at the space station on Sunday morning.

"It's great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business," Hurley said at a press briefing from the ISS on Monday. "We're just really glad to be on board this magnificent complex."

These are the best photos from the mission so far. 

Hurley and Behnken pulled up to the launch site for their first launch attempt on Wednesday in a Tesla. Hurley's wife, Karen Nyberg (who is also an astronaut), and their son waved to him from outside the car window.

Saul Martinez/Getty Images

The astronaut's families exchanged distanced air hugs before the two men boarded the spaceship.

NASA TV

Vice President Mike Pence joined Elon Musk, along with the astronauts and their families, at the Kennedy Space Center prior to the launch.

Joe Skipper/Reuters


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See Also:

• MUSK MAKES HISTORY: SpaceX just launched 2 people into orbit for the first time, kicking off the rocket company's most important mission since its founding 18 years ago
• Elon Musk's biggest worry about SpaceX's first astronaut mission isn't the rocket launch — it's the spaceship's return to Earth
• Puffy 'cotton ball' clouds are a rocket launch's most common nightmare. Here's why they delayed SpaceX's historic flight.

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