(AP) — For the spectators gathered along the Space Coast on Wednesday for an astronaut launch, the rumbling thunder, darkening clouds and then a drenching downpour were more worrisome than any pandemic.

At a park in Titusville with a clear view of the Kennedy Space Center launch pad 15 miles away, hundreds of spectators huddled under tents and umbrellas during on-and-off drizzle before the launch was called off because of the weather.

It would have been the first launch with astronauts from Florida in almost a decade, and the first by a private company, SpaceX.

But officials in Brevard County, home to the Kennedy Space Center, rolled out the welcome mat in an effort to jump-start a tourism industry hit hard this spring by coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office asked visitors to practice social distancing as they waited for the launch of astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a test flight of SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the space center for the launch, while the number of visitors inside was drastically curtailed.