Photo: SpaceX via Twitter
In preparation for NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket mated with a Crew Dragon capsule was raised into the vertical position on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, scheduled to blast into space on October 31st, will carry four astronauts on a six-month science expedition to the ISS.
The 215-feet (65-meter) tall rocket will take off the launch pad with the Crew Dragon capsule on top on Sunday, October 31st, at 2:21 EDT. The spacecraft, named Endurace, will send its four passengers – NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer – on a 22-hour journey to the space station.
Once in Earth's orbit, the SpaceX mission control will keep an eye on a series of automatic maneuvers that will take the Crew-3 astronauts to their new home. The team will arrive on the ISS early on the morning of Monday for a brief handover with the astronauts who went to the orbiting lab in April as part of the Crew-2 mission. Crew-2 is expected to leave the station in November aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour and splashdown in one of the landing zones off the coast of Florida.
The Crew-3 astronauts will spend six months on the ISS, where they will conduct scientific research in areas such as materials science, health technologies, and plant science in order to help pave the way for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is currently in the vertical position on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, awaiting the Crew-3 Halloween launch.
There are still some necessary steps that must be followed ahead of the liftoff. On October 28th, the astronauts and a team of engineers will perform a final rehearsal and verify if everything is in check for the big day.
Once in Earth's orbit, the SpaceX mission control will keep an eye on a series of automatic maneuvers that will take the Crew-3 astronauts to their new home. The team will arrive on the ISS early on the morning of Monday for a brief handover with the astronauts who went to the orbiting lab in April as part of the Crew-2 mission. Crew-2 is expected to leave the station in November aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour and splashdown in one of the landing zones off the coast of Florida.
The Crew-3 astronauts will spend six months on the ISS, where they will conduct scientific research in areas such as materials science, health technologies, and plant science in order to help pave the way for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is currently in the vertical position on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, awaiting the Crew-3 Halloween launch.
There are still some necessary steps that must be followed ahead of the liftoff. On October 28th, the astronauts and a team of engineers will perform a final rehearsal and verify if everything is in check for the big day.
Timelapse of Falcon 9 and Dragon going vertical pic.twitter.com/WEp20JfU9t
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 27, 2021
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