The fourth operational Space Station crew rotation mission for NASA is getting ready. It's pencilled in for Saturday April 23, very early in the morning/late Friday night. But I don't think that a precise date is set yet, since they have to get Axiom-1 back and everything is dependent on the weather. (The day of launch is flexible, but the instantaneous launch-window each day is non-negotiable, since the Dragon has to match orbits with the Space Station.)
There will be a four person crew, two men and two women. The men are both NASA astronauts as is one one of the women. The other woman is Italian astronaut Samantha Christoforetti flying for the European Space Agency. She has been on the Space Station before where she famously fired up the first expresso machine in outer space (you gotta love the Italians!) and made the famous video where she explained in detail how the zero-G space toilets work (suction!).
B 1067.4, the Falcon 9 booster and the Crew Dragon rolled out to the pad yesterday. This will be B1067's fourth flight and it's a bit sooty, a dirty but still perfectly functional broomstick. Its earlier exploits were flying Crew-3, an ISS resupply mission and a communications satellite. Recovery will be on ASOG. This will be SpaceX's 127th booster recovery attempt.
The Crew Dragon capsule will be C212 on its first flight. Since the first crew to fly in each capsule traditionally names it, C212 is 'Freedom' and will keep that name for all of its future flights. If the numbering scheme is the same as the boosters, C212 means 'C' for capsule, '2' for Dragon 2, and '12' for its being the 12th one made. And B1067.4 means 'B' for booster, '1' for first stage, '0' a place-holder. '67' for 67'th Falcon 9 built, and '.4' for this being this booster's fourth flight (when it returns, it will be B1067.5 since its next flight at that point will be its fifth).
(nasa photo)
There will be a four person crew, two men and two women. The men are both NASA astronauts as is one one of the women. The other woman is Italian astronaut Samantha Christoforetti flying for the European Space Agency. She has been on the Space Station before where she famously fired up the first expresso machine in outer space (you gotta love the Italians!) and made the famous video where she explained in detail how the zero-G space toilets work (suction!).
B 1067.4, the Falcon 9 booster and the Crew Dragon rolled out to the pad yesterday. This will be B1067's fourth flight and it's a bit sooty, a dirty but still perfectly functional broomstick. Its earlier exploits were flying Crew-3, an ISS resupply mission and a communications satellite. Recovery will be on ASOG. This will be SpaceX's 127th booster recovery attempt.
The Crew Dragon capsule will be C212 on its first flight. Since the first crew to fly in each capsule traditionally names it, C212 is 'Freedom' and will keep that name for all of its future flights. If the numbering scheme is the same as the boosters, C212 means 'C' for capsule, '2' for Dragon 2, and '12' for its being the 12th one made. And B1067.4 means 'B' for booster, '1' for first stage, '0' a place-holder. '67' for 67'th Falcon 9 built, and '.4' for this being this booster's fourth flight (when it returns, it will be B1067.5 since its next flight at that point will be its fifth).
(nasa photo)