They must replace the Crew-2 crew, of which was part Thomas Pesquet, returned to Earth in the night from Monday to Tuesday.
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Take off for a six-month mission in space. Three American astronauts and a German flew on Wednesday, November 10 towards the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-3 crew must replace Crew-2, which included Thomas Pesquet, returned to Earth overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, were launched from Florida by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 9:03 p.m. local time (Thursday at 3:03 a.m. in France). Their Dragon capsule must then dock at the station on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. (Friday 1:10 in France).
# Crew3… 2 … 1 … and liftoff!
Three @NASA_Astronauts and one @ESA astronaut are on their way to the @Space_Station aboard the @SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance: pic.twitter.com/dxobsFb4Pa
– NASA (@NASA) November 11, 2021
They were initially due to leave at the end of October but take-off was delayed several times, in particular because of the weather, then a “minor health problem” at one of the astronauts, on which NASA did not provide more details. The space agency therefore decided to bring the crew of Crew-2 back to Earth before taking off Crew-3. The handover period between the two crews, which normally takes place in zero gravity for a few days, could not therefore take place.
The mission will include many experiences. One of them aims to observe the effects of diet on the intestinal flora and the immune system of astronauts, their defenses often being weakened by a prolonged stay in space. Crew-3 astronauts will also carry out spacewalks, in particular to continue installing new solar panels on the ISS.