PREPARATIONS are in place at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida for this weekend’s launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first operational flight. It will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
According to a report from CBSNews.com, the four astronauts – commander Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi – arrived at the launch site on Sunday, while following strict Covid-19 quarantine guidelines.
Despite Tropical Storm Eta currently moving through the Gulf of Mexico, the launch is still scheduled to take place on Saturday evening (7.49pm EST, 8.49am, Sunday, Malaysia time).
It is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 4.20am Sunday (5.20pm MYT) where they will meet with two Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. The three had arrived at the space station on October 14.
If all goes according to plan, Rubins will be the last American astronaut to hitch a ride on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Ever since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the only way for any prospective space traveller to reach the stars has been via Russia.
With political relations between the West and Russia increasingly fraught, SpaceX’s new machine is seen as a way for America to reassert its independence in space.
Saturday’s launch follows two successful test flights to the ISS, the first unmanned and the second carrying two astronauts. Both were successful, giving the current mission its green light. – The Vibes, November 10, 2020
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