NASA and SpaceX are making their final preparations for the first crewed launch from U.S. soil to the International Space Station (ISS) since October 2022.
Traveling aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft early on Monday will be Crew-6, comprising NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
Ahead of launch, NASA has released a trailer (below) featuring dramatic footage from previous launches and comments from the Crew-6 crewmembers.
In the trailer, mission commander Stephen Bowen comments: “We’re going to be busy, we’re going to be tired, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
For everyone except Bowen, this is their first trip to orbit. “I think as a first-time flier, there’s a certain component of uncertainty that’s hard to remove,” Hoburg says in the video. “The training has been incredible, so I feel prepared.”
NASA and SpaceX are targeting the launch for 1:45 a.m. ET on Monday, February 27, and the early stages of the flight, as well as the docking with the space station the following day, will be live streamed.
The broadcast will begin at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 26, to show the crew in the moments before lift off from Kennedy. For full details on how to watch the live stream, Digital Trends has you covered.
Conditions for the launch are looking good, with weather officials putting the chances of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off at the targeted time at 95%.
The crew will stay aboard the orbital outpost for about six months. During their time in orbit, they’ll work on a range of science experiments in microgravity conditions, participate in spacewalks to maintain and upgrade the station, focus on their fitness with daily workouts, and marvel at the wonderful views from their unique location 250 miles above our planet. For more on how astronauts live and work aboard the ISS, check out this collection of videos made by the astronauts themselves.
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