Three American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut took off on Sunday night from Florida, in the southeastern United States, towards the International Space Station (ISS), where they will remain for six months.
The Falcon 9 rocket from the private company SpaceX took off at 10:53 p.m. local time (03:53 GMT on Monday) from the Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the night sky with a long, bright orange flare.
Minutes after takeoff, the rocket was flying over the Atlantic Ocean at a speed of approximately 9,700 km per hour, according to television commentators from the American space agency NASA.
The capsule managed to reach orbit in nine minutes. The ship must dock with the ISS to proceed with the relief of four other crew members.
The Falcon 9 that took off on Sunday carries three men and one woman. The mission was initially scheduled to depart on Saturday, but the launch was postponed by a day due to strong winds.
➡️ Join the El Sol de México channel on WhatsApp so you don’t miss the most important information
The capsule that transports them, called “Endeavour”, has already been used four times by SpaceX, the company of South African tycoon Elon Musk, also owner of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, among others.
SpaceX has been providing space launch services to NASA since 2020, under the US agency’s commercial crew program. Its rival, Boeing, is about to finish its certification process.
American Matthew Dominick, who goes into space for the first time, leads the mission. He is accompanied by his compatriot Jeanette Epps and the Russian Alexander Grebenkin, also making his debut on a space flight.
American doctor Michael Barratt completes the team as the only one of the group who has already visited the ISS.
NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos jointly operate the ISS. This is currently one of the few areas in which cooperation between Washington and Moscow has been maintained after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Currently, seven people are on the ISS. Of them, they must return to Earth after a period of exchange with the members of the new mission, an American, a Dane, a Japanese and a Russian.
The Crew 8 mission plans to carry out more than 200 scientific experiments during the six months it will remain in the space laboratory.
➡️ Subscribe to our Newsletter and receive the most relevant notes in your email
The ISS has had permanent staff for 23 years. But the time since its construction already shows its drawbacks. Recently, the director of the Station program at NASA, Joel Montalbano, noted that they are closely monitoring a small leak in the Russian sector of the platform.
2024-03-04 14:01:19
#Space #launches #mission #ISS #research #Sol #México
