Their capsule SpaceX docked Thursday at the International Space Station (ISS), after taking off Wednesday night from Florida.
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Beginning of a six-month mission in orbit. The SpaceX capsule carrying the four astronauts of the Crew-3 crew docked Thursday, November 11 at the International Space Station (ISS), after taking off Wednesday evening from Florida. The four men, three Americans and a German, replace the Crew-2 crew, which included Thomas Pesquet, returned to Earth overnight from Monday to Tuesday. They were greeted aboard the ISS by American Mark Vande Hei.
Four new astronauts through the hatch and seven crewmembers total on the @Space_Station!
After almost exactly a day from launch, # Crew3 is aboard the orbiting laboratory. pic.twitter.com/QJoBUsJcsj
– NASA (@NASA) November 12, 2021
For the American Tom Marshburn, this is the third sojourn in space. He already flew aboard a space shuttle in 2009, then a Soyuz rocket in 2012-2013. The other three astronauts, Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Matthias Maurer, however, made the trip for the first time. Matthias Maurer is the twelfth German to end up in orbit.
Their 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.