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SpaceX Crew-3

SpaceX Crew-3 was the Crew Dragon's third NASA Commercial Crew operational flight, and its fifth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 UTC to the International Space Station.[4] It was the maiden flight of Crew Dragon Endurance.[5]

SpaceX Crew-3
Endurance docked at the ISS
NamesUSCV-3
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-103A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.49407Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration176 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes, 52 seconds
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon Endurance
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, 9:03:31 pm EDT)
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 (B1067.2)
Launch siteKennedy, LC‑39A
End of mission
Recovered byMV Shannon
Landing date6 May 2022, 04:43:23 (6 May 2022, 04:43:23) UTC (12:43:23 am EDT)[2]
Landing siteGulf of Mexico, near Clearwater, Florida
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date11 November 2021, 23:32 UTC
Undocking date5 May 2022, 05:20 UTC[2][3]
Time docked174 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes

Mission patch

From left: Chari, Marshburn, Maurer and Barron

This launch brought the total number of humans who have been to space to 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 — Endeavour for the first, and Resilience for the second. On 7 October 2021, it was announced that the third capsule will be called Endurance.[7] The name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that endured through a pandemic, building the spacecraft and training the astronauts who flew it.[8] The name also honors Endurance, the ship used by Shackleton's Imperial 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 astronaut Matthias Maurer was selected first for the mission in September 2020.[10][11][12] NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn were 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 and Roscosmos trade seats on the Soyuz and Commercial Crew Vehicles, although in April 2021 then-acting NASA administration Steve Jurczyk said that this agreement would be unlikely to start until after Crew-3 had launched.[15] The fourth seat was assigned to Kayla Barron in May 2021.[16]

Chari is the first rookie astronaut to command a NASA space mission since the Skylab 4 crew blasted off to the Skylab space 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 United States  Raja Chari, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
Pilot United States  Thomas Marshburn, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
Third and last spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Germany  Matthias Maurer, ESA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 United States  Kayla Barron, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
References:[19][20][11][13][14][16]
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Commander United States  Kjell N. Lindgren, NASA
Pilot United States  Robert Hines, NASA
Mission Specialist 1 Italy  Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA
Mission Specialist 2 United States  Stephanie Wilson, NASA
References:[21][22][23]

The first astronauts of this NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed The Turtles) to fly to space, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron on SpaceX Crew-3 took a stuffed turtle 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 of NASA Astronaut Group 19 (nicknamed The Peacocks).[25]

Mission

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The third SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program was 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 02:03:31 UTC.[31]

The return of Crew-3 was delayed multiple times, from April 2022 to early May. Undocking happened on 5 May (05:20 UTC), with splashdown occurring the following day after spending 176 days in space.[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 
    Crew-3 astronauts during dress rehearsals
  • Launch of Crew-3 
    Launch of Crew-3
  • Crew-3 reenters the atmosphere 
    Crew-3 reenters the atmosphere
  • Crew Dragon Endurance approaches the ISS 
    Crew Dragon Endurance approaches the ISS
  • Crew-3 astronauts after splashdown 
    Crew-3 astronauts after splashdown

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dragon Endurance". NASA. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021. Mass: 12055 kg
  2. ^ a b Kelvey, Jon (2 May 2022). "Nasa's Crew-3 astronauts set to return to Earth this week". The Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2022. 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.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022. 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". Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  6. ^ Roulette, Joey (10 November 2021). "More than 600 human beings have now been to space". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2021. 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. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via YouTube. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ Wall, Mike (7 October 2021). "Meet "Endurance": New SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule gets a name". Space.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Astronauts choose "Endurance" as name for new SpaceX crew capsule". Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  10. ^ Brown, Mike (1 October 2020). "SpaceX and NASA Detail a Packed 12 months for Crew Dragon: What to Know". Inverse. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b Becker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef (13 November 2020). "Spaceflight mission report: SpaceX Crew-3". Space Facts. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  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). Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ a b Potter, Sean (14 December 2020). "NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 14 December 2020. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (29 December 2020). "Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. ^ Clark, Stephen. "NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 24 April 2021..
  16. ^ a b "Kayla Barron Joins NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. ^ "Raja Chari is the first rookie astronaut in 48 years to command a NASA mission". Spaceflight Now. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  18. ^ "SpaceX launches mostly-rookie Crew-3 mission to ISS". nasaspaceflight.com. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  19. ^ "JSR 799 draft". Jonathan's Space Report. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  20. ^ "NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission". SpaceNews. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  21. ^ Whiting, Melanie (7 March 2016). "Kjell N. Lindgren (M.D.) NASA Astronaut". NASA. Retrieved 7 May 2021. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  22. ^ "Robert Hines NASA Astronaut". NASA. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public 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). Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "SpaceX Crew-3". Twitter. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Crew-3 Mission". YouTube. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  26. ^ Sempsrott, Danielle (19 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Crew Launch Date to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved 20 October 2021. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  27. ^ Sempsrott, Danielle (30 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Space Station Crew Rotation Launch Date". NASA. Retrieved 30 October 2021. Public Domain  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  28. ^ "SpaceX's Crew-3 astronaut launch for NASA delayed by "minor medical issue"". Space.com. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  29. ^ "NASA rules out weekend Crew Dragon launch, may bring station crew home first". Spaceflight Now. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  30. ^ "SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend". Associated Press. AP News. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  31. ^ "Forum Crew-3". NASASpaceFlight.com. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  32. ^ Mike Wall (3 May 2022). "SpaceX's Crew-3 astronaut mission will return to Earth early Friday morning". Space.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  33. ^ "ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer officially assigned first flight". esa.int. ESA. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
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