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The astronauts who will travel to orbit on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission next month are now very familar with their ride to space. In fact, crew members are now ready for their flight to the International Space Station for a science expedition mission, following a successful crew equipment interface testing (CEIT) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, commander; Josh Cassada, pilot; and mission specialists Koichi Wakata, of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Roscosmos will lift off aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. They will be mounted on a Falcon 9 Spacex rocket launched from the 39a launch complex at Kennedy. At present, the take-off is scheduled for October 3 at the earliest. as part of NASA's commercial crew program, crew-5 marks the sixth manned space flight mission to the spacex dragon ship. This is the fifth crew rotation mission at the ISS since 2020.
Crew for the NASA spacex crew-5 mission at the International Space Station landing at the Kennedy Space Centre's 39a launch complex. left, are astronaut of nasa Josh Cassada, pilot; Cosmonaut and mission specialist Anna Kikina; NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, mission commanding officer; and astronaut jaxa (Japanese Space Agency) koichi wakata, mission specialist. Credit: SpaceX
CEIT allows crew members to become acquainted with the launch-day timeline and experience the Dragon interior in a close-to-flight configuration. As part of the detailed testing program, astronauts put on their flight coveralls, make an appropriate entry into the vehicle, check for leakage of the coveralls, and perform communication checks.
The spacex dragon vessel can carry up to 7 passengers in Earth orbit and beyond. At present, it is the only spacecraft capable of returning large quantities of goods to Earth, and is the first private spaceship to bring humans to the ISS.
Inside the vehicle, the crew also hears the fans and pumps of the dragon ship. This helps them prepare for the sounds they can expect to hear the day of the launch. Crew members also take more time to become familiar with the inside of the dragon before getting out of the vehicle, which marks the conclusion of the belt.
The crew has already completed training specific to NASA's Johnson Space Centre mission in Houston. This unique 18-month training program included activities such as studying and participating in activities outside the vehicle; reaction flight T-38; russian language; spacesuit training; robotics; spacecraft training; training in physics, technology and science.
Crew-5 will fly to the ISS in SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance, which previously flew the agency’s Crew-3 mission to and from the orbiting science lab.
