NASA and SpaceX (owned by Elon Musk) recently launched four more astronauts on a flight to the ISS (International Space Station). It is called the ‘Crew-3’ mission, which includes Raja Chari, an Indian-origin NASA astronaut, and three others. Raja Chari is commanding the mission with fellow astronauts. Kayla Barron is the mission specialist, and Tom Marshburn is the pilot for this mission.
Details about the Spacecraft
After a series of delays, the Crew-3 mission has finally been launched on Wednesday night. The crew has named the Dragon spacecraft Endurance. In the third crew rotation mission on the Dragon spacecraft, there are 400 pounds of supplies and hardware, of which over 150 pounds for conducting experiments on the space station.
The team will conduct novel and exciting scientific research in various domains. It may cover fields like health technologies, materials science, and plant science. The search is to prepare further for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. It will help in benefitting life on our planet through the search results study.
Further Details
The international astronaut’s crew lifted off on Wednesday at 9:03 p.m. EST. They were launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The team, including Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Tom Marshburn, includes Mattias Maurer, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut. They will be on the space station for a six-month science mission. It is the third spaceflight for Tom Marshburn. He is the sixth person who has been launched from the planet on three spacecraft in total.
The live NASA video footage picturized the crew members, who were strapped in their pressurized cabin. They had donned their white SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with helmeted black and white flight suits, that was captured a few minutes before launch. ON THURSDAY EVENING, the ESA crewmate with the three American astronauts will be arriving at the space station after orbiting about 250 miles above the planet. The flight will last almost about 22 hours.
It is the debut spaceflight for Maurer, Barron, and Chari. Barron and Chari are also included in the first group of 18 astronauts for the forthcoming Artemis missions of NASA. It aims to return humans to the moon late in this decade, almost 50 years after the Apollo lunar program.
The launch of the previous mission, “Crew 2,” was executed in April 2021. The crew safely to the planet with a splashdown, with a record of 122 days of orbit. The third operational space-station crew recently launched ends nine-year hiatus after the year 2011 U.S. space shuttle program.
The NASA and SpaceX team are vigilantly supporting their safe arrival and eventual come back to the planet on completing the space mission.
