NASA on Friday released the names of the four Crew 11 crew members who will take part in Space X's next mission to the International Space Station no earlier than July from Florida.
The crew will consist of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, who will serve as commander, and pilot Mike Fincke, as well as two mission specialists: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Cardman was one of two astronauts transferred from the Crew-9 crew after their spots were used to return Boeing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth on March 18, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
Wilmore and Williams were aboard the first Boeing Starliner, which launched in June 2024. Problems with the capsule after docking with the ISS caused it to return to Earth without a crew, and they were assigned to SpaceX's return flight.
The Crew-10 crew launched on March 14. On board the ship were NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, who were supposed to replace the members of the Crew-9 team.
The latest mission will be SpaceX's 11th crew rotation to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Missions launch from Kennedy Space Center.
“They will conduct scientific research and demonstrate technologies to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon and benefit people on Earth,” NASA said in a press release.
The space station has been operational since November 2000 and is scheduled to be deorbited at the end of 2030. In addition to SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, crews have also been delivered to the space station by space shuttles and Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Cardman, 37, was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 and will take part in her first spaceflight, including her first spacewalk. At the time of her selection, she had begun pursuing a PhD in Earth sciences at Penn State University.
Fincke, 58, was originally scheduled to fly aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 spacecraft in March 2024. He logged 382 days in space and performed nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 to the ISS in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008 and Space Transportation System 134 in 2011, which was the final flight of the shuttle Endeavour.
Fincke, who became an astronaut in 1996, is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
Yu, 54, will be taking part in his second mission to the space station after 142 days in space. He was selected as a JAXA astronaut in 2009.
Platonov, 38, will make his first space flight since being selected by Roscosmos in 2018. He became a test cosmonaut in 2021.
Sourse: www.upi.com
