Human space flight continues with the second crew rotation mission to the International space station. It was launched on an American spacecraft from American soil to the international spacecraft.
“This is the first human spaceflight mission to fly astronauts on a flight-proven Falcon 9 and Dragon. The Falcon 9 first stage supporting this mission previously launched the Crew-1 mission in November 2020” [1].
Four Selected Astronauts for SpaceX Mission
The second operating mission was launched today. The astronauts on Crew-2 would fly in the same Endeavour capsule that was used on the demonstration flight last year.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager said Falcon 9 rocket is in perfect condition to launch, there’s no need to change SpaceX’s loading procedures.
Aboard the crew dragon spacecraft was the flowing four astronauts - Shane Kimbrough, Megan Mc Arthury, Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut), Thomas Pesquet (ESA - European Space Agency) astronaut.
The Astronauts and NASA managers are comfortable with the SpaceX reuse plan. Using recycled Falcon boosters the company has flown 57 successful missions. The team has guaranteed that to continue the safety from the past 57 missions, safety is always the first measure they take.
The Journey of Crew-2 Dragon of SpaceX:
The launch took place on Friday 23rd April 2021, the capsule took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5:49 a.m. EDT (09:49 UTC) from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
The countdown went off without a hitch in the early hours, and it even got ahead of schedule at times.
Crew-2 is carrying two Americans, one Japanese astronaut, and one French astronaut to the International Space Station. It's part of the space agency's ambitious attempt to hand over the business of transporting people to low-Earth orbit to the private sector. [2]
Once the Crew Dragon slips into orbit; stay there for 24 hours. The Astronauts will likely get there, settle down shortly by feeding themselves and organize their things, and eventually put back their suits on to prepare for arrival at the ISS.
Crew-2 Will Stay on the ISS for Six Months
Crew-2 astronauts will stay on the ISS for about six months, maintaining the station, solving technical issues, and conducting scientific research. They will return to earth with either their own splashdown in autumn.
Crew-1 Will Be Back To Home After Crew-2 Arrives
As the crew -2 mission overlaps with Crew-1, the first operational SpaceX mission, as early as April 28th the crew-1 astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Soichi Naguchi will climb back aboard on their own Crew Dragon capsule called Resilience, then undock from the ISS, parachutes allowing the spaceship to drift to a splashdown off the coast of Florida.
REFERENCES
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/23/science/spacex-nasa-launch
Published by: Book Club
Source: NewsService
Release ID: 17922