NASA to launch SpaceX Crew-6 expedition to ISS next week
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New York: The US space agency is prepared to launch SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft from its Falcon 9 rocket and transport four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg, astronaut Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos will travel to the space station on the SpaceX Crew-6 mission for a six-month science expedition.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has reached a key milestone ahead of liftoff.
While standing on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A in Florida, the rocket's nine Merlin first-stage engines roared to life for seven seconds, completing the routine but critical integrated static fire test, the US space agency said in a statement late on Friday.
This is the sixth crew rotation mission with astronauts using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Programme.
In October last year, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina to the ISS.
During their stay, the Crew-5 mission was set to conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations, including studies on printing human organs in space and a better understanding of heart disease.
The Crew-5 mission conducted new scientific research in areas such as cardiovascular health, bioprinting, and fluid behaviour in microgravity to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth.
With inputs from IANS