3 rockets appeared on the NASA launch pad at the same time

In the center of the photo taken on April 21 is a Falcon 9 rocket taking off, bringing SpaceX’s Starlink Internet satellite cluster into orbit from launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral base in Florida. However, this is not the only rocket that appears in the frame. On the left is another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket preparing to launch the Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). This mission successfully carried four astronauts on April 27 from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

To the right of the photo is the Orion spacecraft perched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) super rocket during NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to the Moon. NASA is conducting a fueling test called “wet dress rehearsal” with the Orion – SLS complex at launch pad 39B of KSC. However, after several problems, the authorities decided to move the complex from the launch pad on April 25 for a closer inspection at the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building.

NASA has spent several weeks preparing the launch pad for spaceflight missions. In early April, the wet dress rehearsal test of Artemis 1 and the launch of the Ax-1 mission carrying the entire population of Axiom Space to the ISS were scheduled to take place several hours apart at two adjacent launchpads at KSC. While weather or technical problems can lead to delays or duplication of launch schedules, Kathy Lueders, NASA’s manned flight director, says it’s a good thing the spaceport is busy, demonstrating the tasks on schedule.

After the shuttle was decommissioned in 2011, the commercial space industry’s launch rate accelerated. NASA and SpaceX begin launching astronaut missions from KSC in 2020, after nearly a decade of reliance on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, which took off from Kazakhstan.

An Khang (According to Space)