Astronaut walkway installed for SpaceX crew

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - SpaceX workers on Monday were seen using multiple cranes to lift a new crew access arm several hundred feet into the air at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

The new astronaut walkway will eventually connecti NASA's newly announced commercial crew ---- introduced with great fanfare more than two weeks ago -- a 200-foot high path to board SpaceX's next generation dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from the launch tower.  Harnessed construction workers walked the modern structure to guide it into place.

"I'm so excited because this means manned spaceflight is finally coming back to the Kennedy Space Center," said Dr. Ken Kremer of SpaceUpClose.com.

He took some of the first photographs, showing the crew access arm being moved into place. He says it's historic because its the first tangible proof manned launch is close to returning.

"We won't have to rely on the Russians anymore. We are going to have our own way, SpaceX, and the Boeing Starliner. We are developing two space capsules at the same time," he said.

The last time an astronaut launched from the United States was the last space shuttle in 2011. Two of the astronauts onboard the shuttle that last flight, Chris Ferguson and Doug Hurley, will fly the first flights to return to space. 

"You can't fly to space until the walkway is there, and today they put the walkway up," Dr. Kremer said.