SpaceX launches 3rd crew with recycled rocket
Four astronauts to reach International Space Station after 23-hour ride in Dragon capsule
Cape Canaveral (US), April 23: SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit on Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk’s rapidly expanding company. The astronauts from the US, Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX’s debut crew last May. They’ll spend six months at the orbiting lab.
It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for Nasa, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the company’s second astronaut flight. Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rocket’s soot, hoping to start a tradition.
“If you have rapid and complete reusability, then that is the gateway to the heavens. That’s what we’re trying to get done, and the support of Nasa makes a huge difference,” Musk said after the launch.
Just a week ago, Nasa awarded SpaceX a nearly USD 3 billion contract to provide the lunar lander that will deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon — Musk’s Starship, intended to be fully reusable to attain his ultimate prize of carrying astronauts to Mars and building a city there.
Flying in a recycled capsule on Friday provided a bit of deja vu for Nasa astronaut Megan McArthur. She launched in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did during SpaceX’s first crew flight. This time, it was Behnken and their 7year-old son waving goodbye. McArthur blew kisses and offered virtual hugs. Also flying SpaceX on Friday: Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide and France’s Thomas Pesquet, the first European to launch in a commercial crew capsule.
It was a stunning scene: The launch plume glowed against the dark sky, reflecting the sunlight at high altitude. Despite the early hour, spectators lined surrounding roads to watch the Falcon take flight an hour before sunrise. Liftoff was delayed a day to take advantage of better weather along the East Coast in case of a launch abort and emergency splashdown. —