GREENFIELD — A local space enthusiast who is the host of a podcast series has been invited by NASA to attend the launch of a SpaceX craft this weekend.
If everything goes according to plan, the launch of SpaceX Crew Demo-1, scheduled for early Saturday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will mark the first time a private, crew-ready spacecraft has docked with the International Space Station.
Space enthusiast Chuck Fields of Greenfield will attend the launch at the invitation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The host of the podcast "Online Coffee Break” will provide updates during launch of SpaceX Crew Demo-1.
The Crew Dragon capsule on Demo-1 will be the first demonstration mission to the International Space Station. While Demo-1 will be unmanned, SpaceX will soon be in a position to transport astronauts to and from the space station. If all goes well with Demo-1, astronauts will be launched from American soil for first time since the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011.
Fields is no stranger to the space program. In 2018, the podcast producer was selected by NASA to attend two launches: the SpaceX CRS-15 mission in June and the Parker Solar Probe launch in August. In December he covered the flyby by NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft of the Ultima Thule asteroid, visiting mission control at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as the craft raced by the snowman-shaped chunk of rock. The asteroid is the farthest object a NASA craft has ever visited.
During the SpaceX launch, scheduled by NASA for 2:49 a.m. Saturday morning, Fields plans to share photos, audio and video clips at OnlineCoffeeBreak.com and on the podcast’s social media accounts. Fields launched his podcast series in late 2017.
