Earth to space station: Here comes Santa Claus
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is taking on the role of Santa – on its way to deliver Christmas goodies to the International Space Station.
The company even got a present in return ā its 100th successful rocket landing.
The pre-dawn liftoff from NASAās Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday was barely visible in the fog and clouds, as the Falcon rocket hoisted a Dragon capsule loaded with nearly 3000 kilograms of gear for the stationās seven astronauts.
Several minutes later, the first-stage booster landed upright on an ocean platform, six years to the day that Muskās company accomplished its first booster touchdown in 2015.
This particular booster was making its first flight. A few days ago, a SpaceX booster made its 11th flight.
āItās critical to lower the cost of spaceflight to continue to reuse these boosters more and more times. A hundred is a big milestone, so weāre excited about that,ā said SpaceXās Sarah Walker, a mission manager.
You might like
āWeāre also excited to see how few new boosters we have to produce as the years go by.ā
Among the items due to arrive at the space station Wednesday will be: Christmas presents from the astronautsā families,Ā smoked fish and turkey, green beans and fruitcake for a holiday feast.
NASAās space station program manager Joel Montalbano wouldnāt divulge anything else. āI wonāt get in front of Santa Claus and tell you whatās going to be sent up,ā he told reporters on the eve of launch.
The delivery also includes a laundry detergent experiment. Station astronauts currently trash their dirty clothes but Procter & Gamble Co. is developing a fully degradable detergent for eventual use at the station, on the moon and beyond.
SpaceX is ending the year with 31 launches, the most ever by the company.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
