bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

SpaceX launched its third crew to the International Space Station an hour before sunrise Friday, recycling a rocket and spacecraft for the first time.
The Crew-2 mission, which includes the first European, Thomas Pesquet of France, blasted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
“We’re glad to be back in space,” said mission commander Shane Kimbrough of the United States.
The Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, is now racing to catch up with the ISS.
Earlier, the team said their final goodbyes to their families before boarding three white Teslas for the launch pad, a new tradition established by SpaceX.
The cars’ licence plates read “recycle”, “reuse”, and “reduce”, in a nod to the fact that both the Falcon 9 booster and Endeavour were deployed on previous missions.


Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Dragon! pic.twitter.com/g6Oi8qwU2Y
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2021

Flying on used vehicles is a key cost-saving goal of Nasa’s partnerships with private industry.
The day before, Pesquet tweeted a photo of the space quartet, which includes American Megan McArthur and Japan’s Akikho Hoshide, relaxing on the beach in Florida.
“Our friends on the @Space_Station are expecting us to show up and we don’t want to be late. They even installed my bedroom recently and literally made my bed. Such nice hosts!” he added.
The extra “bed” is necessary to accommodate an unusually large number of people aboard the ISS: 11 in total, as the Crew-2 team overlaps for a few days with Crew-1 astronauts, in addition to three Russian cosmonauts.


It is the third time SpaceX is sending humans to the ISS as part of its multibillion-dollar contract with Nasa under the Commercial Crew Programme.
SpaceX wins US$2.9 billion Nasa contract to take humans back to moon
The first mission launched last May, ending nine years of American reliance on Russian rockets for rides to the ISS following the end of the Space Shuttle programme.
“I think we’re at the dawn of a new era of space exploration,” said SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who made a surprise appearance at the post-launch press conference.

The launch was a major milestone for Europe, which named the mission “Alpha” after the star system Alpha Centauri.
“This is really the golden era for us in terms of exploitation of the International Space Station,” said Frank De Winne, head of ISS programmes for the European Space Agency (ESA).
Germany’s Matthias Maurer and Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti are set to follow Pesquet on SpaceX missions, this fall and next spring respectively.
The next module of the ISS, built by Russia, should reach the station in July and will include a robotic arm built by ESA that Pesquet will help make operational, De Winne added.
ESA will also be a key partner to the United States in the Artemis programme to return to the moon, providing the power and propulsion component for the Orion spacecraft, and critical elements of a planned lunar orbital station called Gateway.
The Crew-2 team has around 100 experiments in the diary during their six-month mission. These include research into what are known as “tissue chips” – small models of human organs that are made up of different types of cells and used to study things like ageing in the immune system, kidney function and muscle loss.


In terms of the environment, by the time Crew-2 returns in fall, it will have taken 1.5 million images of Earth, documenting phenomena like artificial lighting at night, algal blooms, and the break-up of Antarctic ice shelves.
Another important element of the mission is upgrading the station’s solar power system by installing new compact panels that roll open like a huge yoga mat.
For now though, the three space agencies, as well as the astronauts’ colleagues and families, are basking in the glow of a safe and successful launch.
“It’s been a lot of excitement, lots of ups and downs for the past couple of weeks, and now it’s all done and it was beautiful,” Pesquet’s wife Anne Mottet said.
“So I’m feeling relieved, I’m feeling really happy,” she said, adding she had told Pesquet, “I’m going to be watching you”, when they said farewell.


Style Edit: Omega’s latest Speedmaster Moonwatches honour the brand’s connection with space

The Chinese satellites SpaceX says were on collision course with Starlink

Chinese banks join the space race with satellite launches and rocket backing

China found something strange on far side of moon no one ever saw occur naturally before

Space

SpaceX sends crew to International Space Station, recycling rocket and spacecraft for first time

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carries the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Photo: EPA

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Photo: TNS

SpaceX already preparing for next crew mission to ISS ahead of May test run

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Photo: dpa

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A with the seventh batch of SpaceX broadband network satellites, at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

SpaceX launch expected to draw crowd of 500,000 as astronauts set for mission

The Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled for a Saturday launch but was delayed due to weather conditions. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

News photographers set up remote cameras in front of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft at launch complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. A crew of four astronauts is scheduled to lift off from KSC on Saturday evening. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)

SpaceX and Nasa’s historic crewed launch aborted over bad weather

Liquid oxygen vents off the Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre on Wednesday, before the mission was aborted due to weather problems. Photo: SpaceX via AP

This still image taken from NASA TV, shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with astronauts Bob Behnken (front) and Doug Hurley, at Launch Complex 39A in Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27, 2020. - The Demo-2 mission is expected to dock with the International Space Station on May 28. (Photo by - / NASA TV / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA TV" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Countdown clock is stopped after the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft was scrubbed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27, 2020. - NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will try again on May 30 to launch to the International Space Station on the Demo-2 mission, of which the specific duration has yet to be determined. The Crew Dragon launch marks the first manned mission from Cape Canaveral since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP)

Nasa gives green light for first crewed SpaceX flight on May 27

Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarise themselves with SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Photo: SpaceX via AP

The right stuff: SpaceX’s first astronaut launch has cool factor

Nasa astronaut Bob Behnken in his spacesuit at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Photo: AP

The SpaceX Falcon 9, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of the rocket, sits on Launch Pad 39-A Sunday, May 24, 2020, at Kennedy Space Center, in Fla. Two astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on May 27. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

TOPSHOT - This handout photo released by NASA shows NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A during a dress rehearsal prior to the Demo-2 mission launch, Saturday, May 23, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. launch, Saturday, May 23, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test flight serves as an end-to-end demonstration of SpaceX’s crew transportation system. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to launch at 4:33

TOPSHOT - In this image released by Space X, the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket are pictured at Launch Complex 39A on May 21, 2020, as preparations continue for the Demo-2 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - The Crew Dragon will take off from Kennedy on May 27 with help from SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and dock at the ISS. (Photo by - / SPACEX / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SPACE X " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

News

World

Americas


It is the third time SpaceX has sent humans to the ISS as part of its multibillion-dollar contract with Nasa 
‘I think we’re at the dawn of a new era of space exploration,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said after the launch



‘I think we’re at the dawn of a new era of space exploration,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said after the launch.


SpaceX

Technology

United States

Florida