NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 2:43 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 30, for the
agency’s Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station. The date
adjustment provides two consecutive launch attempts for the crew rotation
mission with the backup time and date of 2:21 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 31.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari, mission commander, Tom Marshburn, pilot, and
Kayla Barron, mission specialist and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut
Matthias Maurer, also a mission specialist, will launch on the SpaceX Crew
Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the
agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Crew-3 astronauts are scheduled for a long-duration science mission aboard
the orbiting laboratory, living and working as part of what is expected to
be a seven-member crew.
Launch on Oct. 30 would have Crew-3 arriving at the space station early the
next day after an approximate 22-hour journey for a short overlap with the
astronauts who flew to the station as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2
mission.
Return of Crew-2 with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur,
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA
astronaut Thomas Pesquet, is currently planned for early-to-mid November.
Missions teams continue to target April 15, 2022, for the launch of NASA’s
SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the space station for a six-month science mission
aboard the microgravity laboratory.
Crew-4 will be commanded by Kjell Lindgren with Bob Hines as pilot, both
NASA astronauts. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will be a mission
specialist and command the station’s Expedition 68 crew, while the remaining
crew member has yet to be named. Crew-3 astronauts are set to return to
Earth in late April 2022 following a similar handover with Crew-4.
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Space & Astrophysics