SpaceX just tested a new
astronaut ride — one that takes folks down to the ground rather than high above it. That ride is a deployable slide installed atop the tower at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . It's designed to get astronauts off the tower in a hurry in the event of an emergency before liftoff. We just got to see the slide in action, thanks to a video
SpaceX posted on X on Tuesday (March 19). The 24-second video provides an astronaut's-eye view of the slide experience, which — though serious business — wouldn't be out of place at an amusement park. "Even though it’s meant to be used for emergencies, it looks like a lot of fun!" SpaceX founder and CEO
Elon Musk said via X on Tuesday , in a post responding to the slide video. Related: SpaceX to launch 30th cargo mission to the ISS for
NASA this week The recent slide test is part of SpaceX's effort to certify SLC-40 for astronaut launches. SpaceX has launched 13 crewed missions to date, all of them from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center , which is next door to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. To evacuate from Pad 39A's launch tower, astronauts jump into baskets that slide down wires to terra firma. The SLC-40 system is different, as the new video shows: It's an enclosed chute that deploys from the top of the tower when needed, riding already-emplaced cables to the ground.
BREAKING space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! — SpaceX Dragon breaks 2 space shuttle orbital records — 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight — International Space Station: Live updates SpaceX has launched many (uncrewed) missions from SLC-40 over the years. And another one will lift off on Thursday (March 21), if all goes according to plan. A
Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a robotic Dragon cargo capsule toward the
International Space Station from the pad on Thursday at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT). You can watch the action here on Space.com when the time comes.