--- title: "SpaceX Tests Epic Escape Slide in Case of Exploding Rocket" description: "SpaceX has tested the emergency slides that could save astronauts' lives during a launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida." date: "2024-03-20" modified: "2024-03-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-escape-slide" categories: - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "kennedy space center" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Tests Epic Escape Slide in Case of Exploding Rocket ![SpaceX has tested the emergency slides that could save astronauts' lives during a launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Emergency Slide SpaceX has tested the emergency chutes that could save astronauts' lives during a launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A [new video]() shared by the company on X-formerly-Twitter shows a person dressed in a black and white SpaceX spacesuit zipping down from the tower's crew pad inside a tube of red and white fabric, an equally exhilarating and terrifying ordeal β€” especially considering the threat of an exploding rocket right behind you. "Even though it’s meant to be used for emergencies, it looks like a lot of fun!" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented in a [tweet](). ## Keep Your Hands Inside SpaceX is working on opening a second launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. Up until now, SpaceX has relied on the historic Launch Pad 39A β€” from which NASA launched several of its Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s β€” to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station on board its Crew Dragon spacecraft. Now, the company is working on getting Pad 40 up and running to give it and NASA more flexibility when it comes to upcoming crew missions. As part of the tests, the space company deployed new emergency chutes along wires stretching from the crew platform to the ground, which could allow astronauts to escape before liftoff in case of a serious anomaly. It's a major departure from the emergency chutes at Launch Complex 39A, where hanging baskets slide along similar wires to get astronauts to safety. Earlier this year, NASA [installed emergency escape baskets](), roomy platforms that glide along wires like a gondola lift, at Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the agency's crewed mission around the Moon. They're strikingly similar to [those used during the Apollo missions]() as well, which could save up to nine personnel from a malfunctioning Saturn V rocket in the 1960s. But before astronauts can take off from pad 40, SpaceX is trying it out with an uncrewed flight first. The inaugural SpaceX launch from the pad will be the [company's 30th cargo mission]() to the ISS, which is [set to launch]() later this week. **More on SpaceX:** *[Elon Musk Says Future Version of Starship Will Travel Between Star Systems]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()