SpaceX's crew-6 mission is finally going to the International Space Station.
NASA and SpaceX recently announced that the latter's Crew-6 mission is officially given the go-ahead to launch following its postponement on Feb. 27 due to a ground-system issue.
The decision to postpone the launch so abruptly on Feb. 27 was made "out of an abundance of caution," Kate Tice said, who is SpaceX's systems engineer, per CNN.
SpaceX Crew-6 New Launch Details
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top is seen at sunset on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-6 mission, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX and NASA announced that they mean to launch the former's Crew-6 mission on Mar. 2 at 12:34 AM to the ISS using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39B at the latter's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, per NASA.
Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's 45th Weather Squadron continue to predict a 95% chance of favorable weather - an ideal chance for Crew-6 to launch, per a NASA blog post. Despite the idealness, though, weather officials will remain on watch for any changes in the conditions along the Dragon ascent corridor for the launch attempt on Mar. 2.
SpaceX Crew-6 mission astronauts from left to right: Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, Commander Stephen Bowen, and Mission Specialist Sultan Al Neyadi.
The mission's crew consists of two NASA astronauts, Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. All of them will be sent to the ISS aboard the Dragon capsule Endeavour, per Space.com.
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The Crew-6 astronauts will replace SpaceX's Crew-5 astronauts aboard the ISS and then spend up to six months on board carrying out science experiments and maintaining the aging space station. As such, Al-Neyadi will be the first person from the UAE to spend a long-duration mission on the space station.
Should everything go as planned, Crew-6 and its four astronauts will dock with the iSS' Harmony module on Mar. 3 at 1:17 AM EST. The module's hatch is expected to open at 3:27 AM EST, and the welcome ceremony is scheduled to happen 13 minutes later.
NASA's Plans During And After Crew-6 Launch
Meanwhile, NASA plans to cover the mission's launch and post-launch events, and as such, it will continue to provide audio coverage following the conclusion of the mission's launch and ascent coverage. It will resume full coverage at the start of the arrival broadcast. Those interested in the audio-only broadcast can do so at NASA's Mission Audio Stream, which includes conversations with the astronauts aboard the space station and a live video feed of the ISS.
Meanwhile, those who wish to watch NASA's live coverage of SpaceX's Crew-6 launch to the ISS can do so on the space agency's website; it will include live streaming and blog updates, which will begin at 8:45 PM as countdown milestones occur.
NASA will also hold a postlaunch news conference on NASA TV with the following participants:
- Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy
- Dina Contella, operations integration manager, International Space Station Program, NASA's Johnson Space Center
- Benji Reed, senior director, Human Spaceflight Program, SpaceX
- Salem AlMarri, director general, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre
Related Article: NASA Postpones SpaceX Crew-6 Launch Date Until February 27
