Engineering:SpaceX Crew-3

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Short description: 2021 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS and maiden flight of Crew Dragon Endurance
SpaceX Crew-3
Crew Dragon Endurance at the ISS.jpg
Crew Dragon Endurance docked to the ISS during Crew-3
NamesUSCV-3
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration176 days, 2 hours and 39 minutes
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftDragon
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,055 kg (26,577 lb)[1]
Crew
Crew size4
Members
  • Raja Chari
  • Thomas Marshburn
  • Matthias Maurer
  • Kayla Barron
ExpeditionExpedition 66 / 67
Start of mission
Launch date11 November 2021, 02:03:31 UTC
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 (B1067.2)
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Recovered byMV Shannon
Landing date6 May 2022, 04:43 UTC[2]
Landing siteGulf of Mexico
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with International Space Station
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date11 November 2021, 23:32 UTC
Undocking date5 May 2022, 05:20 UTC [3][2]
Time docked174 days and 6 hours
SpaceX Crew-3 logo.svg
SpaceX Crew-3 mission patch
SpaceX Crew-3 (official portrait).jpg
Chari, Marshburn, Maurer and Barron 

SpaceX Crew-3 was the fourth operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. 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]

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

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

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
Spacecraft 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 [19] Germany Matthias Maurer, ESA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
Mission specialist 2 [19] United States Kayla Barron, NASA
Expedition 66 / 67
First spaceflight
References:[19][20][11][13][14][16]
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft 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

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]

Gallery

SpaceX Crew-3

  • Crew-3 astronauts during dress rehearsals

  • Launch of Crew-3

  • Crew-3 reenters the atmosphere

  • Crew-3 astronauts after splashdown

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dragon Endurance". NASA. 14 November 2021. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2021-103A. "Mass: 12055 kg" 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kelvey, Jon (2 May 2022). "Nasa's Crew-3 astronauts set to return to Earth this week" (in en). The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nasa-crew3-return-earth-b2069979.html. "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. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/04/dragon-freedom-docks-crew-4/. "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. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/11/11/spacex-debuts-new-dragon-capsule-in-launch-to-the-international-space-station/. 
  5. ↑ Clark, Stephen. "Astronauts choose 'Endurance' as name for new SpaceX crew capsule – Spaceflight Now" (in en-US). https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/08/astronauts-choose-endurance-as-name-for-new-spacex-crew-capsule/. 
  6. ↑ Roulette, Joey (10 November 2021). "More than 600 human beings have now been to space". https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/science/600-astronauts-space.html. "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. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ↑ Wall, Mike (2021-10-07). "Meet "Endurance": New SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule gets a name". Space.com. https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-capsule-named-endurance. 
  9. ↑ "Astronauts choose "Endurance" as name for new SpaceX crew capsule". Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/08/astronauts-choose-endurance-as-name-for-new-spacex-crew-capsule/. 
  10. ↑ Brown, Mike (1 October 2020). "SpaceX and NASA Detail a Packed 12 months for Crew Dragon: What to Know". Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-nasa-flights. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Becker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef (13 November 2020). "Spaceflight mission report: SpaceX Crew-3". Space Facts. http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/crew-3.htm. 
  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 t.co/lQ7LPYfaDp". https://twitter.com/MannedTweets/status/1303464156620873728. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Potter, Sean (14 December 2020). "NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-esa-choose-astronauts-for-spacex-crew-3-mission-to-space-station.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Clark, Stephen (29 December 2020). "Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/12/29/three-astronauts-assigned-to-crew-dragon-mission-in-late-2021/. 
  15. ↑ Clark, Stephen. "NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/04/20/nasa-chief-russian-cosmonauts-unlikely-fly-on-u-s-crew-capsules-until-next-year/. .
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Kayla Barron Joins NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. 17 May 2021. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/kayla-barron-joins-nasa-s-spacex-crew-3-mission-to-space-station.  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. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/11/10/raja-chari-is-the-first-rookie-astronaut-in-nearly-50-years-to-command-a-nasa-mission/. 
  18. ↑ "SpaceX launches mostly-rookie Crew-3 mission to ISS". 10 November 2021. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/11/crew-3-launch/. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "JSR 799 draft". Jonathan's Space Report. 10 November 2021. https://www.planet4589.org/latest.html. 
  20. ↑ "NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission". SpaceNews. 14 December 2020. https://spacenews.com/nasa-assigns-astronauts-for-third-spacex-commercial-crew-mission/. 
  21. ↑ Whiting, Melanie (7 March 2016). "Kjell N. Lindgren (M.D.) NASA Astronaut". NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren/biography.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  22. ↑ "Robert Hines NASA Astronaut". NASA. 26 April 2021. https://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-candidate-bob-hines.  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! t.co/Zn8TaDn9NK". https://twitter.com/AstroMarshburn/status/1403769065194274818. 
  24. ↑ "SpaceX Crew-3". Twitter. https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1458620101784129547. 
  25. ↑ "Crew-3 Mission". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aknndyovSKs. 
  26. ↑ Sempsrott, Danielle (19 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Crew Launch Date to Space Station". NASA. https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/10/19/nasa-spacex-adjust-next-crew-launch-date-to-space-station.  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. https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/10/30/nasa-spacex-adjust-next-space-station-crew-rotation-launch-date-2/.  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. https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-3-launch-astronaut-medical-issue-delay. 
  29. ↑ "NASA rules out weekend Crew Dragon launch, may bring station crew home first". Spaceflight Now. 4 November 2021. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/11/04/nasa-rules-out-weekend-crew-dragon-launch-may-bring-station-crew-home-first/. 
  30. ↑ "SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend". 4 November 2021. https://apnews.com/article/space-exploration-science-business-weather-26ca18622d5779b79aeac5bc41392cbe. 
  31. ↑ "Forum Crew-3". NASASpaceFlight.com. 5 November 2021. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=51899.msg2307149;topicseen#new. 
  32. ↑ "SpaceX's Crew-3 astronaut mission will return to Earth early Friday morning" (in en). 2022-05-03. https://www.space.com/spacex-crew3-mission-return-to-earth-friday. 
  33. ↑ "ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer officially assigned first flight". ESA. 14 December 2020. http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ESA_astronaut_Matthias_Maurer_officially_assigned_first_flight. 



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