Crew 5 on the way to the ISS
Today in Florida, Crew 5 took off for the International Space Station aboard a Falcon9 powered by SpaceX. Anna Kikina, mission specialist; Josh Cassada, pilot; Nicole Mann, spacecraft commander; and Koichi Wakata, mission specialist are the fifth crew mission (6th NASA people mission) as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Many firsts in this mission– including the first Female commander of a Dragon spaceship, first Russian on board an American ride to space, and Cassada’s first flight since his selection as an astronaut in 2013.
The international crew of four will fly aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft and will launch on a new Falcon 9 booster to the orbiting laboratory to spend up to six months at the space station before returning to Earth.
Mission Overview
Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, will monitor a series of automatic maneuvers that will guide Crew-5 to the station. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take control and pilot manually, if necessary.
After docking, Crew-5 will be welcomed inside the station by the seven-member crew of Expedition 68. The astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida several days after Crew-5’s arrival.
Crew-5 will conduct new and exciting scientific research in areas including cardiac to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit life on Earth.
Beautiful Launch
Falcon 9 booster successfully landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship. Dragon successfully separated from Falcon 9’s second stage. It was a smooth ride to orbit.
SpaceX has now flown 30 people to space.
With the addition of the four Crew5 members, SpaceX has flown 30 people to space in just two years. Commercial Crew program started during Covid and has become a reliable and proven ride to space to astronauts from all over the world.
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