In a historic mission, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying a crew of four people to the International Space Station (ISS) on a six-month-long mission.
The mission was scheduled on November 14, however, it going to have to wait at least an extra day to get off the ground. As per the information given by NASA, the spacecraft will now launch no earlier than Sunday at 7:27 p.m. EST (0027 Nov. 16 GMT) due to weather delays.
What is the Crew-1 mission?
This is the first crew rotation mission to the space station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme. It aims at making access to space easier in terms of its cost to transfer scientists to and fro from International Space Station.
Who is part of this mission?
It will launch the agency’s astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.
Crew-1 astronauts will join the Expedition 64 crew of Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, and Flight Engineers Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. The arrival of Crew-1 will increase the regular crew size of the space station’s expedition missions from six to seven astronauts, adding to the amount of crew time available for research.
What research will be conducted?
Scientists will be conducting research and technology demonstrations benefiting life back on Earth. As a part of this research, they will conduct hundreds of microgravity studies, they also deliver new science hardware and experiments carried to space with them inside Crew Dragon.
They will study food physiology, which will study the effects of dietary improvements in the space. They will also carry a few research projects to the space station.
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