SpaceX has a Falcon 9 rocket ready for Sunday's Halloween launch. It will carry three Americans and one German to the International Space Station. This will mark the maiden flight for "Endurance", a Crew Dragon capsule.
The docking ceremony will begin a busy few days of handover activity. Four departing astronauts, launched to this lab complex in April, will bring their replacements up-to-speed on station operations, before returning to Earth on November 5, to complete a 196 day mission.
Bill Gerstenmaier (NASA's former chief spaceflight operations, and SpaceX's senior manager), said that "that handover is quite short on orbit." SpaceX has to be ready for launch, and then to retrieve the vehicle. This is a very intense time."
SPACEX
The only issue that was not resolved before the countdown began was the analysis of a minor improvement to the capsule's urine collection systems. This was discovered on the latest flight. Gerstenmaier stated that the Crew Dragon "Endeavour", which is returning home next week, has a similar problem. However, neither issue was expected to be significant.
He said that he was still adamant about the importance of staying focused, working as a team, and being ready to fly. We don't want to lose our focus and then fall back. It's important to keep looking, and make sure everything is ready to fly.
This crew rotation is taking place amid a series of short-duration commercial flights. These include the all-civil Inspiration4 charity mission to low-Earth orbit in September and a 12-day stay at the station by a Russian actress with her director earlier in the month.
In an interview with CBS News, Kayla Barron, an Endurance crew member and a Naval Academy graduate, stated that she feels super fortunate to be at NASA during such an exciting time.
Left to right: The Crew-3 astronauts pose in the launchpad access arm leading them to their Crew Dragon "Endurance". From left to right: European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer; Thomas Marshburn; Raja Chari; Kayla Barron.NASA
"We are really at the dawning of this new era, where we have commercial spaceflight partners who fly human beings into low-Earth orbit. We are getting ready to take over that space so we can concentrate on exploration, going up to the moon, so we can learn how we can go to Mars."
She said that this would be her first ever rocket launch and that she'd be riding in the capsule at the top. The whole experience is exciting to me.
The Endurance flight in December will be followed by a visit to the Russian Soyuz Space Station by a Japanese billionaire, and his assistant, in December. In February, a Crew Dragon flight with four civilians to visit the station for a 10-day stay.
Plans for the launch & mission
Barron and her crewmates, commander Raja Chari and pilot Thomas Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, are scheduled to launch Sunday at 2:21.06 a.m. ET from historic pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Forecasters predict a 80% chance for acceptable launch weather. However, mission managers are keeping an eye on the sea conditions as the spacecraft orbits the earth. This could pose problems if crew members need to make an emergency splashdown following an abort.
SpaceX tweeted Friday that Falcon 9 and Dragon were looking good for Sunday's launch. "Weather forecast is favorable for liftoff at 80%, and teams are monitoring weather conditions along the ascent corridor."
The next chance to launch a Sunday rocket will be at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday, November 3.
Marshburn, a doctor by profession, has been on two previous missions. He was part of a 16-day space shuttle Endeavour mission and was a Soyuz crew member to the station for 145 days. The remaining "Crew-3" astronauts, however, are all space rookies.
Marshburn was among the 598 people who had been in space before Marshburn. Chari and Marshburn are seated in the Crew Dragon just ahead of Barron, Maurer and Maurer. Chari will be the 599th person to reach space. Maurer, the designated mission specialist No. 1 will be the 600th, and Barron, MS-2 the 601st.
Endurance will climb to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, using a first stage that is making its second flight.
After lifting the Crew Dragon from the thicker atmosphere, the stage will split, flip around, and land on an off-shore drone vessel located several hundred miles below the Atlantic Ocean. It will be SpaceX's 93rd booster rescue and 70th at sea.
In the meantime, the Falcon 9 second stage will climb into orbit and release the Crew Dragon for flight approximately 12 minutes after liftoff.
Chari, an ex-F-35 test pilot and Air Force combat vet, will be monitoring an automated rendezvous of 22 hours with the space station. The outpost is approaching from the behind and below in early November 1. Chari then moves in to dock at the Harmony module's forward port.
Soyuz MS-19/65S commander Anton Shkaplerov, Cosmonaut Pyotr dubrov, and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will all be on hand to welcome their new crewmates aboard. Also, Crew-2 astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Akihiko Hishide, Japanese astronaut, will also be present.
Barron joked that Crew-3 astronauts will arrive at the station just as Halloween draws to a close in the United States. "We might have something in store for Halloween when we cross over the hatch."
The Crew-3 astronauts will replace the four crew fliers who were sent on the Crew-2 mission last April (left to right: European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Megan McArthur; Shane Kimbrough; Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hishide.NASA
The Endurance crew will have only three days to learn about station operations from Kimbrough McArthur, Hoshide, Hoshide, and Pesquet, before the Endeavour astronauts return to their Crew Dragons and undock on November 4. The next morning is expected to see a splashdown off Florida's coast, either in the Atlantic Ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico.
Crew-2 could depart slightly depending on weather conditions and the possibility of a fly-around of the station in order to perform a high-resolution photographic survey. However, a decision about how to proceed will not be made until after undocking.
Dubrov, Vande Hei and Oleg Novitskiy, Soyuz MS-18/64S commander, were launched to the station on April 9,. Novitskiy, along with Russian actress Yulia Pesild and Klim Shipenko were returned to Earth on October 14. They were launched to the laboratory October 5 by Shkaplerov as part of a commercial venture to film scenes in science fiction movies.
After spending nearly a year in space, Vande Hei and Dubrov spent 355 days in space. Shkaplerov was still aboard the station to accompany them home. They will be replaced by 12 days earlier, when they will launch aboard another Soyuz.
Chari, Marshburn and Barron will remain aboard the station through April. Then, four more astronauts will board a new Crew Dragon to take their place on the station.
They'll be busy in the interim.
"We have about 300, 350 experiments in the luggage. And roughly 10% are European experiments," stated Maurer, who is a doctorate holder in materials science and engineering.
"And these experiments will include material science, engineering and life sciences, as well as technological demonstrations. But also experiments that allow us to take the next step, which is from low Earth orbit to exploration of the moon."
The Crew Dragon astronauts will also be conducting a variety of research activities. They plan to conduct three spacewalks next month, one by Marshburn and Barron, to replace an S band radio antenna, and two more in March, to continue the assembly of new rollout solar array support fixtures.
To continue equipping the multi-purpose Nauka laboratory module, the Russians have planned four trips of their own between January and April.
Barron stated that there are many exciting things in store, including spacewalks and science experiments as well as visitors to the private missions of astronauts and participants in spaceflight. It's a great mission for a novice flyer to join such an experienced crew on the space station.
Endurance's launch marks the fourth piloted Crew Dragon flight in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. It will also mark its third operational flight carrying astronauts to long-duration missions. NASA has named the mission Crew-3.
NASA made the decision to develop American-built astronaut ferry vessels to replace its sole dependence on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport the crew to and from space station. This resulted in a steady launch schedule.
Both Boeing and NASA had contracts to develop the Crew Dragon and the CST-100 Starliner for Boeing. This allowed them to keep ownership and launch private citizens on non-governmental missions.
The purpose of the program is to encourage private sector development of low-Earth orbit including civilian visits to space station. NASA can then focus on deep space exploration using the Artemis moon program, and eventually flights to Mars.
Endurance's crew will be welcoming the SpaceX astronauts to the station in February, when Houston-based Axiom brings Mike Lopez-Alegria (former astronaut) and three entrepreneurs aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Crew members of "AX-1" will spend approximately 10 days on the station conducting their own research, before returning to Earth.
Barron stated, "It's quite exciting because it's evidence of this new age we've entered that was mentioned earlier, that is, we're kind sharing low-Earth orbit." It's not only government astronauts who will be in space anymore, but also private missions like the Axiom or the participants in the Russian space flight (in December).
"Having four people come to your home and work is a difficult task, but we are trying to approach it with a sense teamwork. ... It's a great honor to be part of this history. We are excited to welcome them in our home."
