Fri, April 23 11:49 a.m. KST – 5:49 a.m. local time – All eyes will be on Florida and in particular Cape Canaveral, where a manned NASA and SpaceX flight will depart for the station. International Space (ISS).
It was originally scheduled for Thursday, and its due date had to be postponed “Bad weather conditions”. This time the US space agency Predicts a 90% probability of favorable weather conditions For take-off. According to her, the weather should be too “Improves” Along the way. In the course of manned flights, this data is necessary to allow ‘Potential team rescue’ During takeoff, he explained to reporters, temporary NASA administrator Steve Goerchick.
This is SpaceX’s second mission to the International Space Station since the United States resumed manned spaceflight. It is above all the first European mission on board: Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, 43.
The mission, called Crew-2, also includes two American astronauts, Shane Kimbro and Megan MacArthur, as well as Japanese Akihiko Hoshid. All of them have already gone into space.
“It won’t hurt”
The French astronaut said he expected a second stay “The most difficult” From the first in 2016. “ Physically, maybe not, because I feel I’m in the best shape in my life right now (…)Mentally, on the other hand, “He said at a virtual press conference from Cape Canaveral.
“The first time, we’re going on an adventure, we don’t know exactly what’s going to be difficult. The second time, you know exactly what you’re into. It’s like you’re running a marathon, you know it’s going to hurt.”
Thomas Pescet would also be the first French to take control of the station, the size of a soccer field, for nearly a month, at the end of his six-month mission. The accommodation is expected to be intense, as around a hundred experiments will be conducted aboard this huge, weightless laboratory.
Eleven people coexisted at the resort
Crew-2 uses a previously used propulsion and capsule engine, a major savings for NASA. The latter wants to be able to reuse rocket engines at least five times for manned flights.
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has established itself with NASA’s Space Transportation Agency at a time when it is building up Boeing’s Starliner capsule on its test flights. The two companies have multi-million dollar contracts with the US Space Agency.
The success of Crew-1 in May 2020SpaceX’s first manned test flight broke the Russian monopoly on flights to the International Space Station and restored Americans the ability to accomplish this feat, after the end of the “shuttle” » In 2011.
The four astronauts will also coexist for a few days with Team Crew-1, before the latter returns from their six-month mission. With three Russians on board, the terminal will be extraordinarily full, with no fewer than 11 passengers.
