FLORIDA: SpaceX completes static fire test of Falcon-9, green lights weekend Crew-3 launch

FLORIDA: SpaceX on last Thursday
completed the static fire test of the Falcon-9, giving a go-ahead for the
Crew-3 mission led by astronaut Raja Chari to launch. The Falcon-9 will lift
off with the Crew Dragon capsule on top at 2:21 am EDT (11:51 am IST) marking
its fifth human spaceflight.

The Falcon-9 will launch for the
International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.

Following
the launch, Falcon 9’s first stage will separate from the Dragon and land on
the “Just Read the Instructions” drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX said that on its flight
to the International Space Station, Dragon will execute a series of burns that position
the vehicle progressively closer to the space station before it executes final
docking manoeuvres, followed by pressurization of the vestibule, hatch opening,
and crew ingress.

During
the Crew-3 mission, NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron,
and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer will fly aboard the
Dragon spacecraft.

The four-member team will stay
onboard the microgravity laboratory for a period of six months conducting several experiments
that will push the boundary for human space exploration. The team will work
with Crew-2 astronauts and members of Expedition 66 currently onboard the ISS,
for a very short period, taking over the work.

NOT JUST HUMANS ONBOARD

Apart
from carrying the four astronauts, the mission will also have 180 kilograms of
supplies and hardware, including over 68 kilograms of which they will use to
conduct experiments aboard the space station.

The
research hitching ride to space includes the Smartphone Video Guidance System
(SVGS), low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf technology of advanced sensors
designed for automated rendezvous and
capture of spacecraft. The
system uses a camera to capture images of a 4-point LED beacon and analyzes the
pattern of the illuminated dots on the captured images to determine the range
and orientation of the target relative to the camera frame.

Nasa said
that If successful, the software could enable future use in multi-spacecraft
formations of CubeSats or other small satellites.

The Food
Physiology investigation documents if the effects of dietary improvements will
also improve immune function and the gut microbiome and if those improvements
can help crews better adapt to spaceflight. The experiment will help understand
bodily functions for long-term spaceflight the are going to be the next domain
of human space exploration to Moon and Mars.

Meanwhile,
the European Space Agency is sending the EasyMotion, to increase the efficiency
of exercise using electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), a strengthening
technique in which muscles are stimulated by applying electrical impulses. The
study will help prevent muscle atrophy and the resulting bone loss in
microgravity.

Upon the arrival of Crew-3, the
Crew-2 astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide, and ESA astronaut ThomasPesquet will depart for
Earth.

SpaceX is
looking for a departure window with the astronauts in early November once the
handover is completed.