Safety first is a motto that is near and dear to many hearts, but when it comes to space travel, those responsible for human lives take it more than seriously.
Even folks who work for SpaceX, apparently, because they’re developing a slide or chute that astronauts could use to escape an exploding shuttle.
The company recently shared a new video of a person zipping down from the tower’s crew pad.
“Even though it’s meant to be used for emergencies, it looks like a lot of fun!”
Even though it’s meant to be used for emergencies, it looks like a lot of fun!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2024
The company is currently working on designing a new launch pad at Kennedy Space Center to give NASA more flexibility when it comes to upcoming missions.
As part of the tests they deployed these emergency chutes along the wires that stretch from the crew platform to the ground.
Teams test the new emergency chutes from the pad 40 crew tower in Florida pic.twitter.com/rWVj7zaHp0
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 19, 2024
At Launch Complex 39A, which is currently shared by NASA and SpaceX, there are hanging baskets that slide along those wires for astronauts to use if they need to bail out quickly.
SpaceX is planning to try out their new launch pad, 40, without a crew for its first flight. This will go up as their 30th cargo mission to the ISS.
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.