SpaceX rocketship launches 4 astronauts on NASA mission to space station

[brooklynite]

Source: Reuters

NASA and Elon Musk's commercial rocket company SpaceX launched a new four-astronaut team on a flight to the International Space Station on Friday, the first crew ever propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight.

The company's Crew Dragon capsule, Endeavour, streaked into the darkened pre-dawn sky atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as its nine Merlin engines roared to life at 5:49 a.m. (0949 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The blastoff was aired live on NASA TV.

The crew is due to arrive at the space station, which orbits some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, early on Saturday following a flight of about 23 hours.

Within 10 minutes of launch, the rocket's second stage had delivered the crew capsule to Earth orbit, traveling at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, according to launch commentators.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasa-spacex-set-launch-next-4-member-crew-international-space-station-2021-04-23/

[samnsara]

1. dang i missed it by 30 minutes...

..thanks for the reminders. I do count on DU to be my calendar of events nowadays..

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Watched it "live" (stream)

(final stage separation)


Congrats again to SpaceX!

[AllyCat]

3. I so love space travel and science about our universe.

It tells us so much about here and now, as well as our past and future!

[ffr]

4. Even in replay it was exciting.

Just amazing what SpaceX is accomplishing.

I imagine in the not so distant future, the Falcon 9 will be superceded by Starship. That's going to seem like Hollywood CGI looking, seeing giant spaceships coming and going to space.

[Devil Child]

5. Awesome! n/t