A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the astronauts from the Crew 2 mission will launch on April 23, 2021 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida from Launch Complex 39A.
GREGG NEWTON | AFP | Getty Images
SpaceX launched another group of astronauts for NASA early Friday morning. Elon Musk’s company has now sent 10 astronauts into space in less than a year.
The Crew 2 mission, the company’s second operational mission for NASA and the third to date, successfully reached orbit after being launched at 5:49 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket brought the four astronauts into space in the company’s Crew Dragon spaceship called “Endeavor”.
The launch marked several new novelties for SpaceX, with the company reusing both a rocket and capsule for the mission, surpassing the total number of astronauts launched into space under the Mercury program, which began in 1958.
“It was just spectacular,” said acting NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk after the start of the Crew 2 mission. “Our partnership with SpaceX has been enormous.”
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet is now on its way to the International Space Station. The mission is scheduled to dock with the ISS approximately 24 hours after takeoff around 5:10 a.m. EDT on Saturday. The Crew 2 team will then conduct a full-term mission on the ISS and spend approximately six months on board.
After launch, SpaceX also landed the booster of its Falcon 9 rocket, the large lower part of the rocket. This Falcon 9 rocket booster previously launched the Crew 1 mission in November, and SpaceX plans to continue using it for future missions.
