SpaceX rocket successfully launches with 4 NASA crew members headed to International Space Station
Today, a SpaceX rocket was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, located along Florida’s Atlantic coast. The spacecraft, named Endeavour, is carrying four astronauts on a 16-hour journey to the International Space Station. If all goes according to plan, the crew members are expected to arrive at the ISS on Tuesday. Learn more about the SpaceX rocket launch and the Crew-8 mission.
Four astronauts on their way to the ISS for NASA
According to a Reuters report, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Endeavor capsule was successfully launched from Florida. There are four trained astronauts in the capsule, three of whom are American astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia. They will join the Crew-8 mission in Earth orbit for about six months. After a 16-hour journey into space, the four crew members are expected to arrive at the space station on Tuesday, where they will dock with an orbital laboratory about 420 kilometers above Earth.
The Crew-8 mission is a science project led by Commander Matthew Dominick and veteran NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenki. Astronauts are expected to conduct several surveys until August. The crew is responsible for conducting 250 experiments in the microgravity setting of the orbiter. Currently, the ISS consists of 7 crew members, but in a few weeks they are expected to fly back to Earth. With the new crew members continuing the mission, the ISS will be fully activated for another six months.
SpaceX’s launch was originally expected to take place on Saturday, but was delayed by high winds. The successful arrival of four astronauts to the ISS advances the eighth crewed orbital mission of SpaceX’s Human Space Transportation System.
