SpaceX readies to launch international astronaut crew to space station on Friday

and another Earth-orbiting spaceflight for the Inspiration4 mission.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, right, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as thThe astronauts completed a full dress rehearsal of the countdown overnight on Tuesday, and SpaceX ran a static fire test of the Falcon 9's Merlin engines on launchpad 39A later in the day.

NASA plans to begin the countdown Thursday night. The astronauts begin the journey to the historic launchpad 39A in Teslas and climb into the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 rocket.forecast an 85% chance of favorable liftoff conditions for the instantaneous launch window. Cumulus cloud cover is the primary concern, given the potential for rain over the Atlantic on Thursday.

"The best chance for showers and storms will be Wednesday, as the high moving offshore pushes a front down the east coast, and an upper-level disturbance retrogrades southwest across the state," Launch weather officers wrote. "This will likely bring an east-northeast wind surge along with a modest increase in moisture and better, though still below normal, chances for Atlantic showers into Thursday.

If the launch goes Friday, the astronauts will dock at the International Space Station after 2 a.m. on Saturday. The crew will spend about six months working and conducting research on the ISS. There will be 11 astronauts on the space station for a few days before the Crew-6 mission departs for Earth. Dragon Endeavor is set to undock with the four Crew-6 astronauts no earlier than Sept. 1.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Astronauts Touch Down at Florida Spaceport, “Go” for Friday LaunchThe crew that will soon launch to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, August 20, to start final preparations for liftoff. Crew members NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, commander; ESA (Europ
Source: SciTechDaily1 - 🏆 84. / 68 Read more »

Russia launches space station cargo flight, setting stage for SpaceX crew launch FridaySpaceX launches another batch of Starlinks and readies a Crew Dragon flight to the space station while Russia launches its Progress supply ship.
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »

NASA and SpaceX eye weather for Friday’s Crew-7 launchNASA and SpaceX are about to send four astronauts to the International Space Station, but they need decent weather to launch.
Source: DigitalTrends - 🏆 95. / 65 Read more »

SpaceX, NASA declare Crew-7 astronaut mission 'go' for launchLift off is scheduled for 3:49 a.m. ET on Friday (Aug. 25).
Source: SPACEdotcom - 🏆 92. / 67 Read more »

Watch NASA’s trailer for Friday’s crewed launch to the ISSNASA has posted a movie-like trailer as part of the build-up to Friday's launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station.
Source: DigitalTrends - 🏆 95. / 65 Read more »

NASA begins integrating 'nervous system' for Roman Space TelescopeNASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has begun integrating and testing the spacecraft's electrical cabling, or harness, which enables different parts of the observatory to communicate with one another. Additionally, the harness provides power and helps the central computer monitor the observatory's function via an array of sensors. This brings the mission a step closer to surveying billions of cosmic objects and untangling mysteries like dark energy following its launch by May 2027.
Source: physorg_com - 🏆 388. / 55 Read more »