SpaceX launches Crew-6 astronaut team to International Space Station

Four astronauts launched towards the International Space Station (ISS) astatine 12:34 americium EST this morning. The team, Crew-6, flew successful the Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule manufactured and operated by Elon Musk’s rocket institution SpaceX. The capsule sat atop a Falcon 9 rocket, besides built by SpaceX. The unit volition regenerate astronauts leaving the ISS.

Having reached orbit astir Earth earlier contiguous aft lifting disconnected from the Kennedy Space Center successful Florida, the unit are owed to scope the ISS successful the aboriginal hours of time morning, EST, and volition walk the adjacent six months carrying retired hundreds of subject experiments and exertion demonstrations.

One question the unit volition research is however factors specified arsenic airflow and radiation impact the flammability of materials successful space. This could assistance amended the information of aboriginal abstraction missions. Other experiments volition research ways to show and amended immunity and bosom wellness successful abstraction travellers.

The unit volition besides measurement the grade to which microbes are released from the abstraction presumption and however acold they travel, which volition pass measures to bounds contamination during aboriginal abstraction missions.

Commanding the unit is NASA’s Stephen Bowen, lasting 2nd from close successful the photograph above. Bowen has visited the ISS 3 times earlier and is liable for each phases of the formation from motorboat to re-entry.

On the acold close is Sultan Al Neyadi, who becomes the archetypal astronaut from the United Arab Emirates to alert connected a commercialized spacecraft. Al Neyadi trained astatine the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre successful the UAE.

Also making his spaceflight debut is Warren Hoburg who stands 2nd from left. Hoburg trained arsenic a aviator and antecedently researched spacecraft engineering astatine the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They volition beryllium joined by 4th unit subordinate Andrey Fedyaev, a Russian cosmonaut who volition show the spacecraft during the motorboat and re-entry phases of the flight.

All 4 are wearing light, custom-made spacesuits – with a flame-resistant outer furniture and touchscreen compatible gloves – that volition support them from imaginable depressurisation, wherever aerial unit drops owed to leaks from the spacecraft.

“A azygous transportation constituent connected the suit’s thigh attaches beingness enactment systems, including aerial and powerfulness connections,” said NASA and SpaceX. “The suit besides routes communications and cooling systems to the astronauts during flight.”

Today’s palmy motorboat comes aft an earlier effort was scrapped connected 27 February owed to an contented with a sensor linked to the rocket engines.

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