The four members of NASA's Crew 11 space mission have begun quarantine in the Houston area ahead of their expected July 13 launch from central Florida to the International Space Station.
NASA's Crew 11 is the 11th operational mission of SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
On Thursday, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Plantonov, 39, were quarantined at Johnson Space Center.
The two-week quarantine has been standard NASA practice since the Apollo era from 1968 to 1972, aimed at reducing the risk of illness before a flight and preventing symptoms from developing during a mission.
Their interactions with the outside world are strictly limited.
Cardman, 37, is making her debut in space alongside Fink, 58, who is on his fourth mission to the ISS. Yui, 55, is also on his first spaceflight, and Platonov is on his first mission.
On Friday, NASA released a podcast featuring the four.
The crew members spent several months training at NASA and SpaceX facilities.
They participated in training sessions at SpaceX's facility in Hawthorne, California, including launch, docking, undocking and separation from the ISS.
In addition, they took part in a water survival demonstration at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at Johnson Space Center.
At NASA, the crew trained at Launch Complex 39A on the launch escape system, which includes baskets with tethers to quickly move the crew and launch teams from aloft to armored vehicles on the ground.
Earlier this month, the team underwent a hardware interface test by donning spacesuits and getting to know the inner workings of the Dragon spacecraft.
NASA and SpaceX plan to launch the rocket no earlier than 12:09 p.m. ET on July 31 from pad 39A. Since 2010, the Falcon 9 has flown 515 times from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Base in California.
The tenth crew launched from Kennedy Space Center on March 14. Their arrival at the ISS marked the beginning of a new phase for the two NASA astronauts, who have been on the station since June 2024 after arriving on June 5, 2024, aboard the Boeing Starling crew vehicle.
SpaceX, a private company led by Elon Musk, is currently NASA's only way to send crews to the ISS from the U.S. American astronauts can also fly on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Sourse: www.upi.com
