Washington: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded SpaceX led by billionaire Elon Musk a $2.9 Billion contract to construct a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon as early as 2024.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has gone forward with Spacex over Blue Origin owned by Jeff Bezos and defence contractor Dynetics Inc.
WATCH: NASA awarded billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s area firm Space X a $2.9 billion contract to construct a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon as early as 2024 https://t.co/Gr3rycvHdE pic.twitter.com/wmGrVW2fvs
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 26, 2021
NASA and SpaceX launched 4 astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), the third crewed mission of the US industrial rocket firm in lower than a 12 months.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying 4 astronauts from three nations have safely reached orbit a couple of minutes after the liftoff from NASA`s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5.49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (0949 GMT), in accordance to NASA’s Twitter, Xinhua information company reported on Saturday (April 24).
It was the primary time that Elon Musk`s SpaceX reused a capsule and a rocket to launch astronauts. The spacecraft is due to arrive on the ISS early Saturday following a flight of over 23 hours.
The four-member crew consists of US astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, France`s Thomas Pesquet, and Japan`s Akihiko Hoshide.
“It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May,” mentioned NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk.
“This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and for the future of scientific research onboard the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program,” he mentioned.
During Crew Dragon`s flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission management centre in Hawthorne, California, and NASA groups will monitor area station operations all through the flight from Mission Control Center on the company`s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as a part of the company`s Commercial Crew Program.
The Crew-2 members will conduct science and upkeep throughout a six-month keep aboard the orbiting laboratory and can return no sooner than October 31, in accordance to NASA.
The launch was postponed for about someday due to unfavourable climate situations.
(Inputs from IANS)
