SpaceX is recycling everything, even its astronauts, in latest launch

23rd April 2021

In the latest NASA mission, Crew-2, SpaceX has launched four astronauts into space from entirely recycled products, a feat never achieved before. Top Business Tech takes a closer look.

Today, SpaceX and NASA have launched Dragon’s second six-month operational crew mission to the International Space Station (ISS), only this time, the rocket and capsule has been assembled from a previously used capsule and rocket. The ride to the station is expected to take 23 hours and is carrying astronauts who have previously been into space, who hail from the US, Japan and France.

The trip marks the third crew flight in less than a year for Founder Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will spend the next six months orbiting the lab in the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The crew are expected to return to earth in October, landing in the Atlantic Ocean, just off of the coast of Florida.

Shortly after the Crew Dragon “Endeavor,” reached orbit, Kimbrough said: “What an incredible launch, hopefully you guys got to watch it this morning, right as the sun was rising we took off.”

“We chased the sun pretty quickly and caught up just a few minutes after we took off. That was really special to see the sunlight coming in shortly after liftoff,” the Crew-2’s commander added.

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Back on earth, NASA’s acting administrator, Steve Jurczyk at a news conference today said: “Watching a launch from Kennedy Space Center never gets old for me. I’ve watched many launches and watching a pre-dawn launch is especially exciting and just visually stunning,” NASA’s,​​ said at a post-launch news conference Friday morning. “I could not be more proud of the team.”

You can follow Live coverage of the crew-2 mission here.

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Amber Donovan-Stevens

Amber is a Content Editor at Top Business Tech

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