SpaceX successfully launches Crew-3 quartet in Endurance capsule for NASA to Space Station

The SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station finally blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 10. The third operational crew was the latest addition to its fleet of Crew Dragon capsules, named Endurance by the Crew-3 astronauts. The mission transports three American and one German NASA astronaut namely- Raja Chari as mission commander, Tom Mashburn as a mission pilot, Kayla Barron and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer as a mission specialist.

If all things go smoothly, the astronauts will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) within 22 hours, which is about 250 miles (400kms) above the Earth. Take a look at the Dragon being separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and is on its way to the space station. Set for autonomous docking tomorrow at ~7:10 p.m. EST.

The SpaceX mission, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, 31 October, was earlier postponed to Wednesday, 3 November due to unsuitable weather conditions. The mission was then further rescheduled for Saturday, 6 November night, NASA said in a blog post. The three-member crew remained in quarantine at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida before they embarked on the journey. Additionally, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 Rocket, which were in "good shape, were stationed at the launchpad complex 39A at Kennedy, NASA said.

Three NASA astronauts join the SpaceX mission

The Crew-3 flight to the ISS will be carrying three NASA astronauts for a six months science mission until April 2022. The said flight will include Raja Chari as mission commander, Tom Mashburn as a mission pilot, Kayla Barron and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer as a mission specialist.

Chari has remained a US Air Force pilot for combat jets. He was the commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force. The 44-year-old has led many combat missions in Iraq and deployments in the Korean Peninsula.

Mission pilot Dr. Tom Mashburn was selected by NASA in 2004. He came to Houston Johnson Space Center in November 1994 as Flight Surgeon to Space Shuttle medical operations. He has also remained NASA representative to Harvard and MIT. He was part of the Soyuz TMA-07M launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Image: @SpaceX_Twitter