KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The next crew to head to the International Space Station has arrived at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, where they will continue final preparations for their launch this weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • Crew-1 mission scheduled to launch at 7:49 p.m. EST Saturday

  • Eta is being closely monitored, may affect the launch

  • Mission will send astronauts to ISS to kick off crew rotations

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the four astronauts in a Crew Dragon capsule on the first rotation flight in NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Mission managers are closely monitoring the impact of Eta, especially to see how the storm affects the timeline of events up to Saturday's launch.

"We are here today to recognize the astronauts, who are of course in quarantine," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Saturday, shortly after the crew flew into the Kennedy Space Center. "​And getting ready (for) what will be another historic flight."

Crew Dragon Commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Shannon Walker (all NASA astronauts) and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi arrived in Florida on Saturday.

"For the crew, we are ready. We've spent the last couple of weeks kind of fine tuning our training. And we've also had a little time at home with our families," Hopkins said.

For Glover, the excitement is heightened even more: This will be his first spaceflight.

"The thought of flying in here, then rocketing out, it's hard to put into words," he said.

The crew began training eight months ago just as the pandemic began. Hopkins says it was a challenge, but teamwork got them to this day.

"I can't say enough about what SpaceX and NASA has done to keep us safe," he said.

The patches on the astronauts's suits pay tribute to the spacecraft and programs that have flown before them: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the space shuttle.

There are no names on the patch, honoring all the people who worked on the missions, not just crew.

The weather threat has already changed one milestone this coming week: The Space X Falcon 9 rocket static-fire test, which normally happens a few days ahead of each launch, has been moved from Monday to Tuesday.

Launch is set for this Saturday, November 14 at 7:49 p.m. EST.