Today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in America launched its SpaceX crew-3 mission to the International Space Station.
The launch kicked off on Wednesday, November 10 at 9:03 p.m. EST 0200 November 11 GMT, with four astronauts, namely, NASA’s Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer, a European Space Agency’s for about 22 hours journey.
The astronauts will stay there until April 2022 and be replaced by Crew-4, NASA’s next mission flying on SpaceX’s capsule, who will, in turn, be succeeded by Crew-5 in September.
The Crew-3 launch was the 25th of the year in Florida and the 24th for SpaceX so far this year. The Dragon Crew capsule was brand new, while the rocket was one of SpaceX’s seasoned fliers, launching on its second flight.
The capsule, dubbed Dragon Endurance by its crew, is carrying Crew-3 on a six-month assignment at the International Space Station. The launch went off without a hitch barely 12 days after it was scheduled to launch. Chari, Marshburn, Barron, and Maurer landed in Florida on Oct. 26, just days before their Halloween premiere.
The Crew-3 launch countdown went well after a series of weather-related delays, with the closeout workers completing vital leak and communications checks ahead of time. As the minutes passed, the crew appeared comfortable and ready for action.
According to NASA associate administrator Bob Cabana, who expressed his excitement during the live broadcast said: “What a beautiful launch,”
“It was another great experience seeing those four take off into space tonight.”However, in reaction of Chari radioed SpaceX flight controllers just before liftoff, opines:
“We’re honored to fly Endurance on Veterans Day and we’re proud to represent the SpaceX and NASA teams as we live and work on the ISS for the next six months.”
