SpaceX Crew-3 will be the third operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the fourth overall crewed flight for NASA. The mission is currently planned for launch on 6 November 2021.[3] At a NASA briefing held on 2 May 2021, Steve Stich, program manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said Crew-3 will use a new Crew Dragon which was later named Endurance. As such, it's the first time rookie astronauts are flying on a Crew Dragon that is itself new.
![]() Falcon 9 and Endurance on LC-39A with the SpaceX Crew-3 members doing a launch countdown dry rehearsal test | |
Names | USCV-3 |
---|---|
Mission type | ISS crew transport |
Operator | SpaceX |
COSPAR ID | 2021-103A |
SATCAT no. | 49407![]() |
Mission duration | 180 days (planned) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Crew Dragon Endurance |
Spacecraft type | Crew Dragon |
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Launch mass | 12,519 kg (27,600 lb) |
Landing mass | 9,616 kg (21,200 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 4 |
Mitglieder | |
Expedition | Expedition 66 / 67 |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | NET 7 November 2021, 03:36 UTC (planned) [1] |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1067.2) [2] |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
End of mission | |
Landing date | Late April 2022 (planned) |
Landing site | Atlantic Ocean |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.66° |
Docking with International Space Station | |
Docking port | Harmony forward |
Docking date | 8 November 2021 (planned) |
Undocking date | Late April 2022 (planned) |
Time docked | 180 days (planned) |
![]() SpaceX Crew-3 mission patch ![]() Chari, Marshburn, Maurer and Barron |
Name
Crew dragon capsules so far have been given names by their initial crews — Endeavour for the first, and Resilience for the second. On 7 October 2021, it was announced that the third capsule will be called Endurance.[4] Astronaut Chari said that the name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that built the spacecraft and trained the astronauts who will fly it. Those workers endured through a pandemic. The name also honors the ship used by Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The three-masted vessel sank in 1915 after being bound in ice before reaching Antarctica.[5]
Crew
The mission will send up German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.[6][7][8] NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn were added on 14 December 2020 to the crew.[9][10] The fourth seat was left open in anticipation that a Russian cosmonaut would take the seat, marking the beginning of a barter agreement that would see NASA and Roscosmos trade seats on the Soyuz and Commercial Crew Vehicles, although in April 2021 then-acting NASA administration Steve Jurczyk said that this agreement would be unlikely to start until after Crew-3 had launched.[11] The fourth seat was assigned to Kayla Barron in May 2021.[12]
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Spacecraft commander | Raja Chari, NASA Expedition 66 / 67 First spaceflight | |
Pilot | Thomas Marshburn, NASA Expedition 66 / 67 Third spaceflight | |
Mission specialist 1 | Kayla Barron, NASA Expedition 66 / 67 First spaceflight | |
Mission specialist 2 | Matthias Maurer, ESA Expedition 66 / 67 First spaceflight | |
[13][7][9][10][12] |
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Spacecraft commander | Kjell N. Lindgren, NASA | |
Pilot | Robert Hines, NASA | |
Mission specialist 1 | Stephanie Wilson, NASA | |
Mission specialist 2 | Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA | |
[14][15][16] |
Mission
The third SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program was originally scheduled to launch on 31 October 2021.[17] However, it was delayed to 3 November 2021 due to unfavorable weather in the Atlantic Ocean,[18] and then further delayed on November 1 to November 7 due to a medical issue. [19]
The European segment of the mission is called "Cosmic Kiss".[20]
See also
References
- ^ NASA Commercial Crew [@Commercial_Crew] (1 November 2021). "LAUNCH UPDATE: @NASA's @SpaceX #Crew3 mission is now targeted to launch no earlier than 11:36pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 6 due to a minor medical issue involving one of its crew members. More details: https://t.co/Wwjb9U8G9G https://t.co/PCiUhYD2bN" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "CRS-22 Mission Overview" (PDF). Retrieved 27 May 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/11/01/nasas-spacex-crew-3-launch-delayed-from-nov-3/
- ^ NASA's SpaceX Crew1 Post-Splashdown Briefing. NASA Video. 2 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Astronauts choose "Endurance" as name for new SpaceX crew capsule". Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ Brown, Mike (1 October 2020). "SpaceX and NASA Detail a Packed 12 months for Crew Dragon: What to Know". Inverse. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ a b Becker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef (13 November 2020). "Spaceflight mission report: SpaceX Crew-3". Space Facts. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Crewed Spaceflight Tweets [@MannedTweets] (8 September 2020). "BREAKING NEWS ‼ Michal Vaclavik, Czech representative at ESA: Now baked at ESA. It is clear that ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will fly on Crew-2, but we have now agreed that another ESA astronaut, Matthias Maurer, will fly to Crew-3 in September 2021. @ShuttleAlmanac https://t.co/lQ7LPYfaDp" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Potter, Sean (14 December 2020). "NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 14 December 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Clark, Stephen (29 December 2020). "Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ Clark, Stephen. "NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 24 April 2021..
- ^ a b "Kayla Barron Joins NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission". SpaceNews. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ Whiting, Melanie (7 March 2016). "Kjell N. Lindgren (M.D.) NASA Astronaut". NASA. Retrieved 7 May 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Robert Hines NASA Astronaut". NASA. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Marshburn, Thomas [@AstroMarshburn] (12 June 2021). "Had a great week in Cologne, Germany, home of our crewmate @astro_matthias Our backup, @Astro_Stephanie joined us for our final training trip to the European Space Agency before we launch this fall! https://t.co/Zn8TaDn9NK" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Sempsrott, Danielle (19 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Crew Launch Date to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ Sempsrott, Danielle (30 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Space Station Crew Rotation Launch Date". NASA. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-3-launch-astronaut-medical-issue-delay
- ^ "ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer officially assigned first flight". esa.int. ESA. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.