The company "SpaceX" - founded by the American billionaire Elon Musk - has achieved a new record by reusing the "Falcon 9" missile in transporting astronauts from the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) for the second time to the International Space Station.

This is the first time in the history of space travel that a Falcon 9 rocket and a space capsule have been reused in a space mission, which makes it a huge achievement towards reducing the cost of space travel, which opens the door to space tourism and the settlement of Mars and other planets in the future.

The four pioneers near the launch pad of the Falcon 9 rocket, who will transport them to the International Space Station (communication sites)

Falcon 9 and the second mission

The "Falcon 9" missile was launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 12:50 pm on Friday, Doha time, carrying the "Crew Dragon" space capsule that carries 4 astronauts to the International Space Station. Kempro, Megan McArthur, and Japanese Akihiko Hoshid, on a flight that NASA called "SpaceX Crew-2".

This is the second space mission sent by "SpaceX" to the International Space Station, and the company had sent astronauts to the International Space Station last November on the mission "Crew 1", and they are still in the station since then.

And the same "Falcon 9" missile, which was used to transport the crew of the "Crew 1" mission.

It should be noted that this is the third time that NASA sends astronauts to the International Space Station, and the second in cooperation with "SpaceX".

It is expected that the "Dragon" capsule will docked with the International Space Station today, Saturday 9:10 am GMT, as the flight will take 23 hours, and will follow the same path as the first mission.

The four astronauts before the launch of the missile that takes them to the International Space Station (communication sites)

Astronaut targets

In a new tradition created by "SpaceX", the four pioneers rode in 3 white cars produced by "Tesla" company also owned by Elon Musk, who was present and gave a speech before the launch.

And written on the three cars the words “recycle”, “reuse” and “reduce”, indicating that the “Falcon 9 missile and the“ Crew Dragon ”capsule had been used on a previous mission.

"The International Space Station is a unique scientific platform that enables researchers from all over the world to devote their talents to working on unique experiments, and it contains machines that monitor climate, environmental changes and natural disasters," NASA said in a press release on its website.

According to what NASA stated in the statement, the goals of the astronauts on this flight are focused on conducting some scientific research and experiments in the fields of medical technology, human health and materials that cannot be carried out on the surface of the Earth, in addition to maintenance operations of the space station, throughout their stay, which extends. 6 months, as they will return after October 31.

The focus of the mission's leaders will be to continue the series of studies of "space tissue chips", which are miniature models of human organs that contain multiple types of cells that perform the functions of the organs inside the body, and one of the goals is to enhance the solar energy system at the station by installing the first two pairs of 6 solar panels. Separable.

NASA also said in the statement that the crew of the "Crew 2" mission will continue the important research and technological experiments that pave the way for "Artemis" missions to the moon in the future, in order to help improve our understanding of the Earth's climate and improve life on our planet.