CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s newest astronaut mission for NASA has reached its vacation spot.
The Crew-5 mission launched yesterday (Oct. 5) from NASA’s Kennedy House Heart in Florida, sending a Dragon capsule aloft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. That Dragon, named Endurance, caught up with the International Space Station (ISS) right this moment (Oct. 6), after a 29-hour orbital chase.
Endurance made contact with the ahead port of the station’s Concord module at 5:01 p.m. EDT (2101 GMT), whereas the 2 spacecraft have been flying over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. The docking operation was accomplished about 10 minutes later.
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The hatches between Endurance and the ISS are scheduled to open at 6:42 p.m. EDT (2242 GMT), after which the Crew-5 astronauts — NASA’s Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan’s Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina — will transfer into the ISS for a five-month keep.
You possibly can watch the hatch opening right here at House.com, courtesy of NASA TV, in addition to an ISS welcome ceremony, which is slated to comply with at 8:05 p.m. EDT (0005 GMT on Oct. 7).
Mann and Kikina have the respect of carrying private mantles for this mission: Mann is the primary Native American lady in space, and Kikina is the primary cosmonaut to fly on a SpaceX Dragon. Each are spaceflight rookies, as is Cassada; Wakata has now been to space 5 instances.
The Dragon Endurance additionally ferried SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission to the ISS and again. SpaceX operates a fleet of 4 Crew Dragon capsules, that are refurbished and examined earlier than every reflight. Endurance flew with a mixture of latest and beforehand flown parts, together with a brand new warmth defend, parachutes and nostril cone.
SpaceX can also be well-known for flying used rockets, however the Crew-5 liftoff featured a Falcon 9 with a brand-new first stage. The booster, painted with NASA’s worm brand, was brilliant white, freed from the soot that is a well-known sight on the corporate’s reflown first levels.
“We do like getting the brand new boosters,” Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s industrial crew program, stated in a post-launch press convention yesterday.
“Each time SpaceX places a brand new booster within the fleet, they proceed to make … security enhancements to the boosters,” Stich defined. “We just like the reflown boosters, however … getting a brand new booster will get us some upgrades and a few security enhancements, which we respect a large quantity.”
The Crew-5 astronauts are becoming a member of seven crewmates already aboard the ISS, 4 of whom are members of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission. Crew-5’s arrival begins the countdown for Crew-4’s departure from the station, which can occur in a couple of week, stated Sarah Walker, director for Dragon mission administration at SpaceX.
The precise timing of Crew-4’s splashdown return off the coast of Florida depends on climate, Walker stated throughout yesterday’s post-launch press convention.
“So, we’ll proceed to look at the climate,” she stated. “The car that’s onboard supporting the Crew-4 mission is wholesome, and we’ll simply look ahead to these situations to soundly convey the crew residence.”
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