Wikipedia

SpaceX Crew-3

SpaceX Crew-3was theCrew Dragon'sthirdNASACommercial Crewoperational flight, and its fifth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31UTCto theInternational Space Station.[4]It was themaiden flightofCrew DragonEndurance.[5]

SpaceX Crew-3
Endurancedocked at the ISS
NamesUSCV-3
Mission typeISScrew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-103AEdit this at Wikidata
SATCATno.49407Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration176 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes, 52 seconds
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew DragonEndurance
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,055 kg (26,577 lb)[1]
Crew
Crew size4
Members
ExpeditionExpedition 66/67
Start of mission
Launch date11 November 2021, 02:03:31(11 November 2021, 02:03:31)UTC(10 November, 9:03:31pmEDT)
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5(B1067.2)
Launch siteKennedy,LC‑39A
End of mission
Recovered byMVShannon
Landing date6 May 2022, 04:43:23(6 May 2022, 04:43:23)UTC (12:43:23amEDT)[2]
Landing siteGulf of Mexico,nearClearwater, Florida
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking withISS
Docking portHarmonyforward
Docking date11 November 2021, 23:32UTC
Undocking date5 May 2022, 05:20UTC[2][3]
Time docked174 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes

Mission patch

From left:Chari,Marshburn,MaurerandBarron

This launch brought the total number ofhumans who have been to spaceto more than 600 with Maurer (600) and Barron (601).[6]

Name

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Crew Dragon capsules have been given names by their initial crews —Endeavourfor the first, andResiliencefor the second. On 7 October 2021, it was announced that the third capsule will be calledEndurance.[7]The name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that endured through apandemic,building the spacecraft and training theastronautswho flew it.[8]The name also honorsEndurance,the ship used byShackleton'sImperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.The three-masted vessel sank in 1915 after being bound in ice before reaching Antarctica.[9]

Crew

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German ESA astronautMatthias Maurerwas selected first for the mission in September 2020.[10][11][12]NASA astronautsRaja ChariandThomas Marshburnwere added on 14 December 2020 to the crew.[13][14]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 andRoscosmostrade seats on theSoyuzand Commercial Crew Vehicles, although in April 2021 then-acting NASA administrationSteve Jurczyksaid that this agreement would be unlikely to start until after Crew-3 had launched.[15]The fourth seat was assigned toKayla Barronin May 2021.[16]

Chari is the firstrookieastronaut to command a NASA space mission since theSkylab 4crew blasted off to theSkylabspace station in 1973.Gerald Carr,who had not flown in space before, led a three-man crew on an 84-day flight on the Skylab.[17]This was also the first spaceflight for Maurer and Barron.[18]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Commander Raja Chari,NASA
Expedition 66/67
First spaceflight
Pilot Thomas Marshburn,NASA
Expedition 66/67
Third and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Matthias Maurer,ESA
Expedition 66/67
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Kayla Barron,NASA
Expedition 66/67
First spaceflight
References:[19][20][11][13][14][16]
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Commander Kjell N. Lindgren,NASA
Pilot Robert Hines,NASA
Mission Specialist 1 Samantha Cristoforetti,ESA
Mission Specialist 2 Stephanie Wilson,NASA
References:[21][22][23]

The first astronauts of thisNASA Astronaut Group 22(nicknamedThe Turtles) to fly to space, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron on SpaceX Crew-3 took astuffedturtle as zero-g indicator to pay a tribute to their astronaut group.[24]Additionally, to include the other crew members on board, Matthias Maurer and Tom Marshburn, the turtle was named "Pfau", a German word meaning "Peacock" for Matthias Maurer, who is German, and for Tom Marshburn, who was part ofNASA Astronaut Group 19(nicknamedThe Peacocks).[25]

Mission

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The third SpaceX operational mission in theCommercial Crew Programwas originally scheduled to launch on 31 October 2021.[26]However, it was delayed to 3 November 2021 due to unfavorable weather in the Atlantic Ocean,[27]and then further delayed to 7 November 2021 due to a minor medical issue with one of the astronauts.[28]Due to expected bad weather, it was again delayed to 9 November 2021.[29]

Due to the launch delays, NASA decided to return the astronauts from Crew-2 before Crew-3 launched, thus being the first Crew Dragon indirect handover of space station crews.[30]SpaceX Crew-2 departed the station on 8 November 2021 and splashed down on 9 November 2021. SpaceX Crew-3 mission launched from Cape Canaveral on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31UTC.[31]

The return of Crew-3 was delayed multiple times, from April 2022 to early May. Undocking happened on 5 May (05:20UTC), withsplashdownoccurring the following day after spending 176 days inspace.[32]

The European segment of the mission is called "Cosmic Kiss".[33]

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SpaceX Crew-3
  • Crew-3 astronauts during dress rehearsals
  • Launch of Crew-3
  • Crew-3 reenters the atmosphere
  • Crew DragonEnduranceapproaches the ISS
  • Crew-3 astronauts after splashdown

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Dragon Endurance".NASA. 14 November 2021.Retrieved15 November2021.Mass: 12055 kg
  2. ^abKelvey, Jon (2 May 2022)."Nasa's Crew-3 astronauts set to return to Earth this week".The Independent.Retrieved3 May2022.Nasa's head of human spaceflight Kathy Lueders said the space agency aims to have the Crew-3 astronauts undock from the ISS in their Crew Dragon spacecraft around pm EDT on Wednesday 4 May, with a splashdown off the Florida coast to follow on 5 May.
  3. ^Kanayama, Lee (27 April 2022)."Crew Dragon Freedom makes its first docking at the ISS on the Crew-4 mission".NASASpaceFlight.Retrieved3 May2022.This handover is expected to be complete by May 4, when Endurance is slated to depart the ISS, however this timeline will be contingent on recovery weather conditions.
  4. ^"SpaceX debuts new Dragon capsule in launch to the International Space Station".Spaceflight Now. 11 November 2021.
  5. ^Clark, Stephen."Astronauts choose 'Endurance' as name for new SpaceX crew capsule – Spaceflight Now".Retrieved6 May2022.
  6. ^Roulette, Joey (10 November 2021)."More than 600 human beings have now been to space".The New York Times.Retrieved11 November2021.They've tipped the number of people to have gone to space to over 600, according to a tally maintained by NASA
  7. ^NASA's SpaceX Crew1 Post-Splashdown Briefing.NASA Video. 2 May 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 10 October 2021.Retrieved2 November2021– via YouTube.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  8. ^Wall, Mike (7 October 2021)."Meet" Endurance ": New SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule gets a name".Space.Retrieved14 November2021.
  9. ^"Astronauts choose" Endurance "as name for new SpaceX crew capsule".Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021.Retrieved8 October2021.
  10. ^Brown, Mike (1 October 2020)."SpaceX and NASA Detail a Packed 12 months for Crew Dragon: What to Know".Inverse.Retrieved16 November2020.
  11. ^abBecker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef (13 November 2020)."Spaceflight mission report: SpaceX Crew-3".Space Facts.Retrieved16 November2020.
  12. ^Crewed Spaceflight Tweets [@MannedTweets] (8 September 2020)."BREAKING NEWS ‼ Michal Vaclavik, Czech representative at ESA: Now baked at ESA. It is clear that ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will fly on Crew-2, but we have now agreed that another ESA astronaut, Matthias Maurer, will fly to Crew-3 in September 2021. @ShuttleAlmanac https://t.co/lQ7LPYfaDp"(Tweet).Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2021.Retrieved2 November2021– viaTwitter.
  13. ^abPotter, Sean (14 December 2020)."NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station".NASA.Retrieved14 December2020.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  14. ^abClark, Stephen (29 December 2020)."Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021".Spaceflight Now.Retrieved29 December2020.
  15. ^Clark, Stephen."NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year".Spaceflight Now.Retrieved24 April2021..
  16. ^ab"Kayla Barron Joins NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station".NASA. 17 May 2021.Retrieved17 May2021.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  17. ^"Raja Chari is the first rookie astronaut in 48 years to command a NASA mission".Spaceflight Now. 10 November 2021.Retrieved11 November2021.
  18. ^"SpaceX launches mostly-rookie Crew-3 mission to ISS".nasaspaceflight.10 November 2021.Retrieved11 November2021.
  19. ^"JSR 799 draft".Jonathan's Space Report. 10 November 2021.Retrieved11 November2021.
  20. ^"NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission".SpaceNews. 14 December 2020.Retrieved21 December2020.
  21. ^Whiting, Melanie (7 March 2016)."Kjell N. Lindgren (M.D.) NASA Astronaut".NASA.Retrieved7 May2021.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  22. ^"Robert Hines NASA Astronaut".NASA. 26 April 2021.Retrieved13 June2021.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  23. ^Marshburn, Thomas [@AstroMarshburn] (12 June 2021)."Had a great week in Cologne, Germany, home of our crewmate @astro_matthias Our backup, @Astro_Stephanie joined us for our final training trip to the European Space Agency before we launch this fall! https://t.co/Zn8TaDn9NK"(Tweet).Archivedfrom the original on 1 November 2021.Retrieved2 November2021– viaTwitter.
  24. ^"SpaceX Crew-3".Twitter.Retrieved11 November2021.
  25. ^"Crew-3 Mission".YouTube.11 November 2021.Retrieved12 November2021.
  26. ^Sempsrott, Danielle (19 October 2021)."NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Crew Launch Date to Space Station".NASA.Retrieved20 October2021.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  27. ^Sempsrott, Danielle (30 October 2021)."NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Space Station Crew Rotation Launch Date".NASA.Retrieved30 October2021.This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  28. ^"SpaceX's Crew-3 astronaut launch for NASA delayed by" minor medical issue "".Space. 1 November 2021.Retrieved5 November2021.
  29. ^"NASA rules out weekend Crew Dragon launch, may bring station crew home first".Spaceflight Now. 4 November 2021.Retrieved5 November2021.
  30. ^"SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend".Associated Press.AP News. 4 November 2021.Retrieved5 November2021.
  31. ^"Forum Crew-3".NASASpaceFlight. 5 November 2021.Retrieved6 November2021.
  32. ^Mike Wall (3 May 2022)."SpaceX's Crew-3 astronaut mission will return to Earth early Friday morning".Space.Retrieved4 May2022.
  33. ^"ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer officially assigned first flight".esa.int.ESA. 14 December 2020.Retrieved15 December2020.
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