NASA Sends International Crew Of Four Into Orbit

NASA on Friday launched four astronauts for a rendezvous with the International Space Station, including three whose space commitments were delayed by technical troubles with Boeing’s Starliner.

The Crew-11 mission launched just before noon local time from the Kennedy Space Centre’s Launch Complex 39-A in Florida, with a SpaceX Falcon 9 that completed its trip into orbit in nine minutes.

The capsule was expected to take about 15 hours to reach the ISS, with docking planed for Saturday at around 3 am ET (8 am BST).

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket achieves first-stage separation during NASA Crew-11 mission to International Space Station. Image credit: SpaceX

Starliner troubles

The four crew are scheduled to remain on board the ISS for about six months, conducting scientific experiments.

The crew include NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

Cardman was originally scheduled to travel to the ISS last August aboard NASA’s Crew-9, but the flight was reorganised due to technical problems with Boeing’s first crewed launch of its Starliner capsule, which launched in June 2024 with crewmembers Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

The problems led Boeing to return Starliner to Earth without crew in September of last year, while Crew-9 was delayed for a month and left with two empty seats.

The Crew-9 rocket then returned Williams and Wilmore to Earth in March, more than nine months after they had left for a trip that was supposed to last for a week.

It is the first trip into space for 37-year-old geobiologist Cardman.

A bacterial experiment being prepared for transfer to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Crew-11 mission. Image credit: Space Tango — A bacterial experiment being prepared for transfer to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Crew-11 mission. Image credit: Space Tango

Experiments

Fincke and Japan’s Yui, both former military officers with previous spaceflight experience, were training for Starliner’s second mission, but with the vehicle grounded until next year, NASA switched them to Crew-11.

Russia’s Platonov, a former fighter pilot, was pulled from Russia’s Soyuz flights a few years ago due to an undisclosed health issue that has now been resolved.

The experiments to take place include studying plant cell division and the effects of microgravity on bacteria-killing viruses, as well as an experiment to increase the production of human stem cells and on-demand nutrients.

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