Recycled Rocket Successfully Reached International Space Station
- Florencia Lombardi
- May 7, 2021
- 2 min read
On Friday, April 23rd, SpaceX launched a recycled rocket and capsule into orbit. This is the third crew flight in less than a year for the growing company. The mission, called “Crew-2”, sent four astronauts, two Americans, one Japanese and one French, to the International Space Station.
Although SpaceX has reused its technology in the past, it is the first time a recycled rocket has been used from a previous spaceflight. The boosters that the company has been recycling since 2017 were only used for cargo transportation, therefore, making this improvement incredibly important. The rocket that was used, Falcon 9, had already made the same flight last November. SpaceX also recycled the capsule that held the astronauts from a mission in May.
Just before sunrise, the Falcon 9 rocket flew across the sky and safely reached orbit soon after. The spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station at 5:08 a.m. Saturday 24th, 23 hours after it was launched.
The ISS had been at full capacity until April 28, when Crew-1 returned to Earth after being in space since November. Now, a group of specialists will spend the next six months on the space station conducting experiments and installing new solar panels.
Bibliography
Global News Network (2021, April 24th) Watch This Historic First: Astronauts Successfully Launched Using Recycled Rocket – to International Space Station. Good news network.
Thorbecke, C. (2021, April 24th) SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to ISS on recycled rocket and capsule. Abc News.
Associated Press (2021, April 23rd) SpaceX launches third crew in less than a year with recycled rocket and capsule. The Guardian
Griffin, A. (2021, April 23rd) SPACEX LAUNCHES NASA ASTRONAUTS INTO SPACE ONBOARD ELON MUSK’S RECYCLED ROCKET. Independent.
N.A (2021, May 1st) Highlights From SpaceX’s Launch of 4 Astronauts for NASA. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/23/science/spacex-nasa-launch
Niiler, E. (2021, April 23rd) NASA Launches Astronauts to the ISS on a Reused SpaceX Rocket. Wired.
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