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Early Wednesday morning, the four astronauts on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will finally get a chance to blast off for the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins will be joined by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti as they embark on NASA’s next long-duration mission.
Barring any further delays, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will send a new Crew Dragon capsule and its four crew members en route to the ISS during an instant launch window at 3:52 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, April 27, from Pad 39A at Kennedy. space center.
If for some reason liftoff doesn’t happen exactly on time, the crew will have to wait at least another 24 hours for a chance to reach space.
Meet the crew members
The crew arrived in Florida aboard a NASA-owned aircraft last Monday and have been in quarantine ever since and continue to prepare for their flight at KSC.
“We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to be part of a larger team that includes the Kennedy Space Center, all of the space centers here in the US, our business partners, and our international partners,” said Mission Commander Crew -4, Kjell Lindgren. “(We are) the part of the team that goes up to the space station and does the science and research to improve life here on Earth and extend our presence in the solar system.”
The science mission expected to last six months aboard the ISS will be a second-time trip for Lindgren and Cristoforetti and a first-time experience for Hines and Watkins.
Lindgren was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2009 and launched into space in 2015 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule bound for the ISS. He has spent a total of 141 days in space and has two spacewalks to his credit.
“We feel prepared, confident in our abilities and excited to fly and put those skills to work,” Lindgren said. “I think a long-term expedition on the station with this group will be very satisfying and incredibly fun.”
First-time pilot Bob Hines was selected by NASA for astronaut training in 2017. He served as a pilot for more than 21 years in the United States Air Force. Before applying to be an astronaut, he was a research pilot at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
At a pre-mission press event, he said that the families left behind are the true superstars of any long-duration space mission: “We are all grateful for the sacrifices our families make so that we can go do this incredible adventure”.
He has three daughters with his wife, Kelli. “I’m going to miss my family incredibly while we’re gone,” he said.
He will bring photos and short videos of his family into space, “Those things will just warm my heart in times when I miss my family.”
Jessica Watkins joins Hines as the other Crew-4 traveling to space for the first time. She is part of the same class of astronauts as Hines selected by NASA in 2017.
Watkins has a Ph.D. in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as a science team member on the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover.
“We’re super, super excited to get out there and have this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Watkins said. “Being able to look down on our house, from our position in orbit, is going to be super awesome.”
Samantha Cristoforetti is from Milan, Italy. After serving in the Italian Air Force, she joined the European Space Agency representing Italy in 2009.
In 2014 she logged 200 days in space after her launch to the ISS as a flight engineer on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
New trip to space
Together, the members of Crew-4 decided to name their new SpaceX Crew Dragon ride into space, “Freedom.”
“The name celebrates a fundamental human right and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unfettered human spirit,” Lindgren said in a Twitter post.
According to a NASA statement, the name is also reminiscent of Freedom 7, the spacecraft that carried Alan Shepard as the first American launched into space on May 5, 1961.
The Crew Dragon “Freedom” capsule completes SpaceX’s fleet of astronaut capsules joining Crew Dragon “Endurance”, “Endeavour” and “Resilience”.
Crew Dragon now, lunar missions later
Of the crew, Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins have a special interest in another rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, which sits on Launch Pad 39B, a short distance from the SpaceX rocket they will board for space on Wednesday. .
The pair were selected by NASA in December 2020 as part of the agency’s Artemis Team.
Under the agency’s Artemis program, members of the 18-astronaut team will be eligible to launch on SLS for future lunar missions as part of the agency’s initiative to return humans to the lunar surface.
The SLS has yet to complete a critical final pre-flight test known as the “wet dress rehearsal.”
Last week, agency officials announced that during an opportunity for downtime while an outside nitrogen gas supplier performs upgrades, the SLS would return to the vehicle assembly building to complete repairs.
The latest delay in the megamoon rocket test schedule is expected to last for weeks.
Once repaired, NASA hopes to roll the rocket back to the launch pad to attempt another full “wet dress rehearsal” test.
The test will require fully charging the rocket’s main and upper stages before teams execute a full countdown sequence that concludes the test in a simulated T-0, just before the engines fire.
If all goes according to plan, the SLS will prepare for flight and rise to lunar orbit later this summer for the agency’s Artemis I demonstration mission that will send the uncrewed Orion capsule around the moon and back. .
“Maybe we’ll be in orbit when that thing launches,” Hines said. “We’d love to be on the ground at some point and see it. But I think we’d all rather be in space, honestly.”
A successful Artemis I mission will establish Artemis II, a mission to send two Artemis team astronauts into lunar orbit, scheduled for launch in 2024.
For the latest news, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rocket launch Wednesday April 27
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon “Liberty”
- Mission: Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station
- launch window: 3:52 a.m. EDT, Instant: Should be released on time
- launch complex:39A at KSC
- astronauts: Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
- Trajectory: Northeast
- Landing: unmanned ship
Visit floridatoday.com/space for real-time updates and live video on launch day.
kjell lindgren
- NASA astronaut: Selected in 2009
- Mission designation: Commander of Crew-4
- From: Born in Taiwan, grew up in the US Midwest.
- Experience: 141 days in space, two spacewalks
bob hines
- NASA astronaut: Selected in 2017
- Mission designation: Crew-4 Pilot
- From: Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Experience: Former US Air Force and NASA test pilot
Jessica Watkins
- NASA astronaut: Selected in 2017
- Mission designation: Mission Specialist Crew-4
- From: Lafayette, Colo.
- Experience: Previous analog astronaut and aquanaut
samantha christoforetti
- ESA astronaut: Selected in 2009
- Mission designation: Mission Specialist Crew-4
- From: Milano, Italy
- Experience: 200 days in space
Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. He can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.
