CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A Falcon 9 rocket used to send two NASA astronauts to space was historic on its own, but when it launched again on Monday, another record was broken.
The rocket's B1058-2 booster was the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched Crew Dragon Endeavour and two NASA astronauts into space on May 30. That launch was the first crewed launch of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.
When that booster launched at 5:30 p.m. July 20, it broke a record set by Space Shuttle Atlantis for the quickest turnaround time for an orbital class rocket, according to Tesla and SpaceX blog Teslarati.
The Falcon 9 rocket booster launched just 51 days after its Crew Dragon Endeavour mission on May 30.
That record was originally set in 1985 when Atlantis launched on Oct. 3 from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. It spent four days in space before returning to Earth. Then, just 54 days later on Nov. 26, 1985, the shuttle launched again, a record turnaround time for the orbiter.
Atlantis was also part of STS-135 on July 8, 2011, the last Space Shuttle mission and the last time NASA astronauts launched from American soil before astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley flew aboard Endeavour to the International Space Station back in May.
SpaceX delayed the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying ANASIS II, a communications satellite for the South Korean military. The launch window was originally set for July 14 but delayed until Monday.
