SpaceX’s American private spacecraft, called the Crew Dragon, Freedom, was launched into orbit by the Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The journey to reach the station will take at least 16 hours, all of which will be managed autonomously by the crew of the Crew Dragon capsule, but the astronauts can control it at any time if needed.
Four astronauts (Cristoforetti, Commander Kell Lindgren, pilot Robert Hines and mission specialist Jessica Watkins) are expected to arrive at the space station on April 28 at 2.15am Italian time, and the hatch will open at 3.45am Italian time
Cristoforetti and his colleagues will work on dozens of scientific experiments aboard the ISS, six of which will be carried out in the medical field by the Italian space agency and will monitor the effects of prolonged stay in orbit that has already begun during the mission beyond. By Luca Permitano. During his stay, Astro Samantha will take over as head of the U.S. Orbital Division, that is, the US, European and Canadian modules and the ISS’s component.
Mission Minerva, name reason
The name was chosen in honor of all the men and women who made human space travel possible. Minerva is also a warrior deity – as Christophoreti explains – “it embodies the courage, determination and discipline we need, as well as the wisdom we want to express when integrating and expanding human existence in space.”
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