A crew of four astronauts is preparing to depart Earth on board a SpaceX rocket and head to the International Space Station (ISS). Should something go wrong on the launchpad, astronauts would normally escape in an armored military-grade vehicle that can withstand heavy explosions. But for the upcoming Crew-13 mission, the astronauts will be whisked to safety in a tacky, stainless steel pick-up truck. NASA revealed that the Tesla Cybertruck will be replacing the Mine-Resistent Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) to transport astronauts away from the launchpad in case of an emergency, Space Policy Online reported. SpaceX decided to move to a private rescue capability to avoid conflict over resources for upcoming launches, Richard Jones, deputy program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said during a recent press conference. Cybertrucks have faced multiple safety recalls over hardware and software defects and are banned from the streets of Europe and the United Kingdom but are now the go-to vehicle in case of a rocket-related emergency.
Safety measures NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission is scheduled for liftoff on September 12. NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will launch on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
