SpaceX, NASA say Crew-11 astronaut mission is ‘go’ for launch to ISS on July 31

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s Crew-11 astronaut mission to the Worldwide House Station for NASA is go for launch.

When Crew-11 launches, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will elevate off from historic Launch Advanced 39A right here at NASA’s Kennedy House Heart (KSC), sending a crew of four the ISS for a six-month keep. Mission managers with NASA and SpaceX all polled ‘go’ to proceed to depend down in the direction of a 12:09 p.m. ET (1609 GMT) launch try of the Crew-11 mission on Thursday (July 31).

“I am so desirous to see this mission launch, however as at all times, we launch after we’re prepared. With a bit luck, we’ll see a launch quickly, and we’ll additionally see a crew come house quickly,” mentioned Ken Bowersox, affiliate administrator for NASA’s House Operations Mission Directorate, throughout a prelaunch briefing at KSC right this moment (July 30). “However be affected person with us. Let’s ensure that the car is able to go and that our crew is basically sure earlier than we hit the button.”

The 4 Crew-11 astronauts will dock with the ISS some 39 hours after launch. They are going to be flying inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, flying on its milestone sixth flight. No different Crew Dragon has flown greater than 4 instances.

Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s Business Crew Program, hailed the milestone in right this moment’s briefing. “As , this can be a actually necessary mission for us. It is our sixth flight of Dragon Endeavour. We labored very onerous with SpaceX to finish all of the reuse actions for this car,” Stich mentioned. “We had licensed the automobiles  — the Dragons  — for less than 5 flights. Now we have accomplished all that work and we’re actually able to go.”

Crew-11 consists of NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, who will function commander on her first journey to area. In a press briefing earlier this month, Cardman burdened how six-month stays on the ISS just like the one she’s going to embark on will assist put together NASA to ship astronauts a lot farther into area.

“Understanding the best way to dwell and work for lengthy durations — going and staying — is a extremely fascinating problem, and I am grateful that we have gotten the possibility to do that — to hone our abilities on the ISS, in order that we will do that for longer durations on the moon,” Cardman said.

“The Worldwide House Station, in my perspective, is a completely essential stepping stone as we take into consideration going farther afield.”

Becoming a member of Cardman as mission pilot is veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, making his fourth journey into area. Fincke beforehand educated to pilot Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft on its first operational mission, however was reassigned as delays and issues continue to plague the Starliner program.

Alongside the 2 NASA astronauts are Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA), making his second journey to the ISS whereas serving as Crew-11 mission specialist, and Oleg Platonov of Russia’s area company Roscosmos, mission specialist, making his first journey to area.

Crew-11 will dock at 3 a.m. ET (0800 GMT) on Aug. 2 and can overlap with the Crew-10 astronauts for a couple of days to make sure a easy handover earlier than Crew-10 makes its approach again to Earth for a splashdown within the Pacific Ocean.

If all goes in line with plan, the 4 members of Crew-11 will stay docked on the ISS for roughly six months earlier than the subsequent NASA astronaut rotation relieves them.

The U.S. House Pressure has predicted a 90% chance of favorable weather for Crew-11 at launch time.