The Crew-13 mission it received final approval to proceed with the launch from Cape Canaveral with four crew members bound for the International Space Station (ISS).
La NASA, SpaceX and its international partners completed the Crew-13 Launch Readiness Review, after assessing the overall status of the mission, officials authorized the team to continue the countdown to send four crew members to the orbital complex.
The launch is scheduled for no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT this Thursday, October 1, the Falcon 9 rocket will depart from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Crew-13 mission will launch aboard a Dragon spacecraft
For this manned mission, SpaceX using a Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon capsule, the system will transport representatives from NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Roscosmos to the International Space Station.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk, and cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Watkins will command Crew-13, while Delaney will serve as pilot, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov complete the international crew destined for the ISS.
NASA is preparing the countdown for Crew-13
After receiving authorization to proceed, the NASA and SpaceX teams enter the final pre-launch phase, the readiness review allows them to check the status of the systems, the spacecraft, the rocket, and all the elements necessary to execute the mission safely.
Furthermore, the NASA it will offer live coverage of the launch through its digital platforms, the official broadcast is scheduled to begin at 9:20 a.m. EDT, prior to the scheduled liftoff time.
The flight will depart from Cape Canaveral, a major facility for manned operations that SpaceX is developing in conjunction with NASA.
A direct route to the International Space Station
After the launch, the Dragon spacecraft will begin its approach to the ISS, the sources analyzed indicate that the journey could be completed in about 7 hours and 50 minutes if operations proceed according to schedule.
Once docking is complete, the four members of Crew-13 will join the station’s activities, their tasks include scientific research and demonstrations related to future space exploration missions.
The crew will also participate in studies related to health, medical treatments, and crop production in space. This type of research provides relevant information for preparing for long-duration human operations beyond Earth.
Crew-13 will continue the astronaut rotation on the ISS
The arrival of Crew-13 will allow the rotation of personnel aboard the International Space Station to continue. The new crew members will initially share operations with members of Crew-12 before completing the rotation.
The mission is part of the crewed operations that maintain a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit. These expeditions allow for the development of procedures, biomedical research, and technologies that can also serve as a reference for future missions exploration missions.
With the readiness check now complete, Falcon 9 and Dragon are on track for the next phase of the operation. If technical and weather conditions remain within the expected parameters, the launch will mark the beginning of a new astronaut rotation to the ISS and continue NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Source and photo: NASA
