SpaceX launches rescue mission for 2 NASA astronauts stuck in space

SpaceX has launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station. A Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew and two empty seats. Two test pilots flew to the station on Boeing spacecraft which returned to Earth empty because of safety concerns. They will occupy the empty seats when the SpaceX vehicle returns next February.

Class discussion: The problems with the Boeing spacecraft leaves Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the only U.S. source of spacecraft presently capable of transporting astronauts to and from the space station. Do we need more sources of crewed spacecraft? Why or why not? Are manned missions to the space station or the moon more useful than unmanned missions launching satellites and telescopes? Which has discovered more about the universe - astronauts or unmanned spacecraft?