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.

The importance of an all-encompassing approach for 0EMs.
Trending
The importance of an all-encompassing approach for 0EMs.

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.

For more news from Top Business Tech, don’t forget to subscribe to our daily bulletin for the latest technology news!

Amber Donovan-Stevens

Amber is a Content Editor at Top Business Tech

We think you'll like:

Unlocking productivity and efficiency gains with data management

Russ Kennedy • 04th July 2023

Enterprise data has been closely linked with hardware for numerous years, but an exciting transformation is underway as the era of the hardware businesses is gone. With advanced data services available through the cloud, organisations can forego investing in hardware and abandon infrastructure management in favour of data management.

The Future of Cloud: A Realistic Look at What’s Ahead

Erin Lanahan • 22nd March 2023

Cloud computing has transformed the way we work, communicate, and consume technology. From storing data to running applications, the cloud has become an essential part of our lives. But what does the future hold for this technology? In this article, we’ll take a realistic look at the future of the cloud and what we can...

Ab Initio partners with BT Group to deliver big data

Luke Conrad • 24th October 2022

AI is becoming an increasingly important element of the digital transformation of many businesses. As well as introducing new opportunities, it also poses a number of challenges for IT teams and the data teams supporting them. Ab Initio has announced a partnership with BT Group to implement its big data management solutions on BT’s internal...