The Crew Dragon shuttle launched, a Russian astronaut also on board – Space & Astronomy

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance shuttle launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which on behalf of NASA brings the four members of the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station (ISS): the first Russian astronaut on an American shuttle in 20 years part, Anna Kikina, the first female commander of a commercial flight and the first Native American in space, Nicole Aunapu Mann, the veteran of the Japanese space agency Koichi Wakata and the NASA astronaut Josh Cassada. The connection to the ISS is scheduled at 22:57 (Italian time) on Thursday 6 October. The mission in orbit will last approximately five months.

The launch of Crew-5, which took place from platform 39A with a Falcon 9 rocket, was initially scheduled for September 29, but then slipped several times, also due to the arrival of Hurricane Ian on the Florida coast. After arriving in orbit and opening the hatch, the number of astronauts aboard the Space Station commanded by Samantha Cristoforetti will rise to 11. The astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA), about to return to Earth with the Crew Dragon Freedom shuttle, will participate on Tuesday 11 October in a press conference with colleagues Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, to talk about their experience in orbit. The date of their return has not yet been officially announced, but the shuttle is expected to leave the ISS 5-6 days after the arrival of the Crew-5.