SpaceX Crew-3
Endurance at LC-39A
NamesUSCV-3
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-103A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.49407Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration180 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon Endurance
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,519 kg (27,600 lb)
Landing mass9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size4
Members
ExpeditionExpedition 66 / 67
Start of mission
Launch date31 October 2021, 06:21 UTC (planned) [1]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 (B1067.2) [2]
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Landing dateLate April 2022 (planned)
Landing siteAtlantic Ocean
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with International Space Station
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date1 November 2021, 04:10 UTC (planned)
Undocking dateLate April 2022 (planned)
Time docked180 days (planned)

SpaceX Crew-3 mission patch

Chari, Marshburn, Maurer and Barron 

SpaceX Crew-3 will be the third operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the fourth overall crewed flight for NASA. The mission is currently planned for launch on 31 October 2021.[1] At a NASA briefing held on 2 May 2021, Steve Stich, program manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said Crew-3 will use a new Crew Dragon which was later found to be Crew Dragon Endurance. Thus it's the first time rookie astronauts are flying on a dragon that is itself a rookie, or simply, first such astronauts on a new dragon.

Name

Crew dragon capsules so far have been given names by their initial crews—Endeavour for the first, and Resilience for the second. On 7 October 2021, it was announced that the third capsule will be called Endurance.[3] Astronaut Chari said that the name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that built the spacecraft and trained the astronauts who will fly it. Those workers endured through a pandemic. The name also honors the ship used by Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The three-masted vessel sank in 1915 after being bound in ice before reaching Antarctica.[4]

Crew

The mission will send up German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.[5][6][7] NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn were added on 14 December 2020 to the crew.[8][9] The fourth seat was left open in anticipation that a Russian cosmonaut would take the seat, marking the beginning of a barter agreement that would see NASA and Roscosmos trade seats on the Soyuz and Commercial Crew Vehicles, although in April 2021 then-acting NASA administration Steve Jurczyk said that this agreement would be unlikely to start until after Crew-3 had launched.[10] The fourth seat was assigned to Kayla Barron in May 2021.[11]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Raja Chari, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
Pilot United States Thomas Marshburn, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
Third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 United States Kayla Barron, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Germany Matthias Maurer, ESA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
[12][6][8][9][11]
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Kjell N. Lindgren, NASA
Pilot United States Robert Hines, NASA
Mission Specialist 1 United States Stephanie Wilson, NASA
Mission Specialist 2 Italy Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA
[13][14][15]

Mission

The third SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program is currently scheduled to launch on 31 October 2021.[1]

The European segment of the mission is called "Cosmic Kiss".[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Sempsrott, Danielle (19 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Crew Launch Date to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ "CRS-22 Mission Overview" (PDF). Retrieved 27 May 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "NASA briefing crew-2 splashdown".
  4. ^ "Astronauts choose "Endurance" as name for new SpaceX crew capsule". Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  5. ^ Brown, Mike (1 October 2020). "SpaceX and NASA Detail a Packed 12 months for Crew Dragon: What to Know". Inverse. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Becker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef (13 November 2020). "Spaceflight mission report: SpaceX Crew-3". Space Facts. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. ^ Manned Spaceflight Tweets [@MannedTweets] (8 September 2020). "ESA astronaut, Matthias Maurer, will fly on Crew-3 in October 2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ a b Potter, Sean (14 December 2020). "NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 14 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (29 December 2020). "Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  10. ^ Clark, Stephen. "NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 24 April 2021..
  11. ^ a b "Kayla Barron Joins NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ "NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission". SpaceNews. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. ^ Whiting, Melanie (7 March 2016). "Kjell N. Lindgren (M.D.) NASA Astronaut". NASA. Retrieved 7 May 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ "Robert Hines NASA Astronaut". NASA. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  15. ^ @AstroMarshburn (12 June 2021). "Had a great week in Cologne, Germany, home of our crewmate @astro_matthias Our backup, @Astro_Stephanie joined us f..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer officially assigned first flight". esa.int. ESA. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
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