The launch stands as SpaceX's fifth crewed flight overall in 17 months, and the fourth under NASA's public-private partnership with the rocket company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) With the Crew Dragon flying autonomously through space at more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kmph), the four astronauts were expected to have a meal and get some sleep before arriving at the space station to begin a six-month science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA has extolled space station missions in low-Earth orbit as critical training grounds and incubators for technologies that will help achieve the goals of a sustainable lunar presence and eventual human flights to Mars. BRIDGE TO THE FUTUREĬhari, Maurer and Barron were all making their debut spaceflights with Wednesday's launch, becoming the 599th, 600th and 601st humans in space.īoth Chari and Barron also are among the first group of 18 astronauts selected for NASA's upcoming Artemis missions, aimed at returning humans to the moon later this decade, over a half century after the Apollo lunar program ended. Rounding out the crew is European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer, 51, of Germany, a materials science engineer. The team's designated pilot and second-in-command is veteran astronaut Tom Marshburn, 61, a medical doctor and former NASA flight surgeon who has logged two previous spaceflights to the space station and four spacewalks. Navy submarine officer and nuclear engineer. Air Force combat jet and test pilot serving as mission commander, and mission specialist Kayla Barron, 34, a U.S. "Crew 3" includes two members of NASA's latest graduating class of astronauts - Raja Chari, 44, a U.S. The flight marks the third "operational" space station crew sent to orbit aboard a Dragon capsule since NASA and SpaceX teamed up to resume space launches from American soil last year, following a nine-year hiatus at the end of the U.S. The three American astronauts and their European Space Agency crewmate were due to arrive at the space station, orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth, on Thursday evening following a flight of about 22 hours. ![]() ![]() 'HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE RIDE'Īs the Dragon separated from the upper rocket stage moments later, a launch engineer on the ground radioed to the crew: "Welcome to orbit. Meanwhile, the rocket's reusable lower stage, having detached from the rest of the spacecraft, flew itself back to Earth and successfully touched down on a landing platform floating on a drone vessel in the Atlantic. Within 10 minutes of liftoff, the rocket's upper stage had delivered the crew capsule into orbit, according to launch commentators. Live video footage webcast by NASA showed the four crew members strapped into the pressurized cabin of their capsule and seated calmly in their helmeted white-and-black flight suits moments after a launch that appeared to go flawlessly. One postponement earlier this month was attributed to an astronaut's unspecified medical issue, although NASA said the problem was later resolved. The mission had been confounded by a string of weather delays since its original launch window on Oct.
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