SpaceX launches supplies and holiday gifts to space station crew
CBSN
SpaceX capped its busiest year ever early on Tuesday, launching its 31st and final Falcon 9 rocket of 2021. This one boosted a Dragon cargo ship into orbit loaded with supplies, equipment and Christmas presents for the International Space Station crew.
It was only the second all-new Falcon 9 to fly in 2021 as SpaceX capitalizes on its reusable rocket technology, which company officials say is crucial for lowering launch costs and increasing schedule flexibility.
"It's been a record-breaking year for SpaceX," said Sarah Walker, the company's director of mission management. "Reusability is key to lowering the cost of spaceflight, which enables more investments in critical scientific research."
Two climbers were waiting to be rescued near the peak of Denali, a colossal mountain that towers over miles of vast tundra in southern Alaska, officials said Wednesday. Originally part of a three-person team that became stranded near the top of the mountain, the climbers put out a distress call more than 30 hours earlier suggesting they were hypothermic and unable to descend on their own, according to the National Park Service.
There's no making up for what Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus lost on the day she finished .07 seconds behind a Russian opponent who, everyone later learned, was doping. What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will finally receive is a great day under the Eiffel Tower where she'll be presented with the gold medal she was denied 12 years ago at the London Olympics.