NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 2:21 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 31, for the
agency’s Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station to allow
additional time for spacecraft processing. The backup launch time and date
is 1:10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3.
The official insignia for NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 launch.NASA astronauts Raja
Chari, mission commander, Tom Marshburn, pilot, and Kayla Barron, mission
specialist as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer,
also a mission specialist, will launch on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance
spacecraft and its Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The international crew entered their
official quarantine Oct. 16, and will travel to Kennedy in the coming days
for final training and preparations prior to launch.
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. 31 would have Crew-3 arriving at the
space station early on the morning of Monday, Nov. 1, for a short handover
with the astronauts who flew to the station in April as part of the agency’s
SpaceX Crew-2 mission.
With the Crew-3 launch date adjustment, 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,
currently is planned for early November with splashdown of Crew Dragon
Endeavour at one of seven.
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