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NASA and SpaceX plan to launch the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station before Thursday, February 22. Processing of Crew-8 hardware and ground systems for the SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX plan to launch the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station before Thursday, February 22. Processing of Crew-8 hardware and ground systems for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket continues as operations teams recently completed critical crew training in preparation for launch.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominique, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Oleksandr Grebenkin, will depart for the orbital laboratory on Crew-8 to begin an approximately six-month stay that will include research and operational missions.
Crew-8 will fly to the space station on a Dragon spacecraft called Endeavour, which is currently undergoing repairs for its fifth flight. The Dragon spacecraft previously supported NASA’s Demo-2, Crew-2 and Crew-6 flights, as well as Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 1 round-trip flights to the orbiting laboratory. As part of the rebuild process, teams installed new components such as the heat shield, parachutes, container panels, Draco engines and nose cone.
SpaceX recently completed testing of its Dragon propulsion system at the company’s processing facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Crews will soon stack Dragon on its rack before transporting the spacecraft to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the rocket.
Meanwhile, teams are preparing the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to make its first flight on Crew-8. The launch vehicle recently completed phase one testing and will undergo final assembly in the SpaceX hangar, in front of the Dragon and Falcon 9 boosters at Launch Complex 39A. Once all rocket and spacecraft systems have been tested, the integrated stack will be transferred to the launch complex. pad and lifted into a vertical position for a static fire test before launch.
As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Crew-8 is the ninth human spaceflight mission powered by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the eighth crew rotation mission to the space station for NASA since 2020.
Source: Port Altele
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