1/5
Aug. 26 (UPI) — The highly anticipated NASA’s Crew-7 mission successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday morning. This mission involves four astronauts onboard who are headed for a stay at the International Space Station.
The launch was originally scheduled for the previous day but was delayed due to concerns regarding the environmental control and life support system components of the Dragon spacecraft. After resolving the issues, the mission proceeded as planned.
On Saturday, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the four astronauts illuminated the sky in central Florida at 3:27 a.m. The rocket was equipped with the Crew Dragon capsule named Endurance, which has been used in previous NASA missions.
Following the launch, the spacecraft will travel to the space station, which orbits approximately 250 miles above Earth. The scheduled docking is expected to occur around 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, with the astronauts entering the space station two hours later.
The crew consists of Jasmin Moghbeli from NASA, Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency, Satoshi Furukawa from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Konstantin Borisov from Russia’s Roscosmos space agency. They will spend six months aboard the space station, conducting various scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, research, and maintenance tasks.
It is worth noting that the Crew Dragon capsule used in this mission has previously completed NASA’s Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. As for the Falcon rocket’s stage 1 booster, it will be jettisoned approximately 9 minutes after lift-off and will return to Earth at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Shortly after the booster separation, the Dragon spacecraft will enter orbit. During the live-streamed broadcast of the launch, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir expressed her joy for the crew’s successful launch.
The mission’s commander is Jasmin Moghbeli, a German-born astronaut who emigrated to the United States from Iran. Andreas Mogensen will serve as the spacecraft’s pilot, and Konstantin Borisov will be the flight engineer.
Moghbeli expressed gratitude to SpaceX for the opportunity and thanked everyone who contributed to the mission. She emphasized the unity among the crew members, despite their different nationalities, and highlighted the rigorous preparation required for human spaceflight.
Upon reaching the space station, the Crew-7 astronauts will join the Crew-6 members. The Crew-6 astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth aboard the Dragon Endurance on September 2. Other occupants of the space station include astronauts from Roscosmos’ MS-22 mission, who have been on board for ten months.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
