NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission will be launched Thursday morning for the International Space Station (ISS).
At a pre-launch press conference on Tuesday, representatives of the agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed that they were ready for a 6:11 a.m. ET takeoff from the Space Center Kennedy of NASA in Florida.
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch Crew Dragon Endeavor, marking the crew’s second rotation on a spacecraft trade mission and the first with two international partner astronauts.
NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet will embark on a six-month voyage aboard the ISS.
From left to right, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur are seen preparing to leave operations. checkout Neil A. Armstrong. Building for Launch Complex 39A during a rehearsal before the launch of the Crew-2 mission on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: (NASA / Aubrey Gemignani)
(NASA / Aubrey Gemignani)
Once there, International Space Station manager Joel Montalbano said they would conduct more than 260 scientific experiments and that the fourth crew member would help increase the research and development of both the highly anticipated Artemis program and of low-orbit trade efforts on Earth.
“With the launch of Crew 2, we greet the European Space Agency flying an astronaut for the first time on the Dragon. We also welcome back the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency flying the Dragon for the second time,” he added. “So really an international program and this is our future, in which we will have international partners on our vehicles for the future. This is a goal and we plan to be there.”
Speaking to Montalbano, Commercial Crew program manager Steve Stitch said the NASA-SpaceX team had its first “Preparation Review” and rehearsal on Tuesday morning, which led to the conclusion that it was “on track.” ”For Thursday and that – assuming there are no changes – the docking would be scheduled for Friday around 4:30 AM ET.
“The main thing we are looking for in the coming days is the weather. You know we need to have launch time to be “go” and also “abort” the weather along the ground runway to protect the crew in the vehicle. So we look at both Thursday and Friday and the weather for the next few days, “he said.
The launch of weather officer Brian Cizek, from the 45th US Space Force weather squadron, explained that there is currently an 80% chance of favorable weather on Thursday and a 90% chance of favorable weather on Friday.
According to Cizek, downhill weather and winds remain the biggest concern.
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Benji Reed, senior director of human spaceflight programs SpaceX, thanked NASA for donating its $ 2.89 billion commercial SpaceX to SpaceX and said Elon Musk-owned company is excited to be able to fly the crew again.
He said the teams will continue to conduct data analysis and evaluation, called “paranoid reviews,” until it’s time to fly.
“And, in fact, our teams are even doing extra practice, as I mentioned, we still want to make sure everything is great. And so we continue on that path as we prepare for Thursday,” Reed said.
Johnson Space Center’s Deputy Director of Flight Operations, Norm Knight, called the human space flight business “unforgiving” and praised the teams for their work.
“The vigilance of the teams guarantees continuous safety and was certainly present in these reviews this week. And you know you’re taking a step back and you look, it’s, it’s, it’s hard enough in a regular environment, but putting COVID in the first place was exceptionally impressive what these teams managed to put together, “he said. .
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“The cadence is very good for teams, between SpaceX and NASA people work well with each other. We look forward to a successful mission. And again, it’s just a very interesting moment,” he said.
Also present were JAXA ISS manager Junichi Sakai, ESA ISS program manager Frank de Winne and Johnson Space Center, ISS chief scientist Kirt Costello.