SPACE: Joe Pappalardo: Cape Canaveral’s Legendary Launchpad Is Ready for Astronauts Once More.

There may be no more enduring image of American spaceflight than a heroic astronaut boarding a U.S. spacecraft. Images from the Apollo era of spacesuit-clad flyboys striding down sterile hallways have become iconic—and, in the hands of Hollywood, even mythological. Now this scene is on the verge of happening again.

Today, workers began final installation on a crew access arm to the Fixed Service Structure at Launch Complex 39A, a crucial milestone in the nation’s effort to resume American-based human spaceflight. This bridge is the last place NASA astronauts will see before going into the SpaceX capsule that will blast them into space, starting next year. . . .

When SpaceX launches astronauts from 39A, it will be the first to do so from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first two NASA astronauts to fly in the Crew Dragon spacecraft, on the schedule for April 2019. After this orbital test, NASA’s Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins will take the ride to the International Space Station for a long-duration mission.

Launch Complex 39A will be a fitting setting for these launches, because the Kennedy Space Center site has been the focal point of American human spaceflight since the moonshots of Apollo. The launchpad’s history reflects the highs and lows of the U.S. space program, and its rebirth heralds a promising but very new future.

Faster, please.