Shillong, August 4: The upcoming NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is all set to take off on August 25, with four astronauts on board. The launch is scheduled for 3.49 am EDT (1.19 pm India time) on Friday.
As per IANS, preparations for the mission were slightly delayed as teams needed extra time to ensure the pad readiness after SpaceX’s recent Falcon Heavy mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the delay also provided an opportunity to take advantage of consecutive launch opportunities and avoid conflicting with other cargo spacecraft schedules at the station.
The team of astronauts includes NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. They will be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The Crew-7 mission plans to dock at the ISS on August 26, specifically at the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. NASA has also stated that if necessary, there are additional launch opportunities on August 26-27.