Waiting for the launch: SpaceX filmed the Crew-2 mission rocket from a drone at the historic launch pad 39A
As previously reported, NASA and SpaceX have postponed the second commercial human-crewed mission to the ISS for a day due to unfavorable weather conditions. The launch was postponed to April 23, 12:49 Moscow time. To while away the wait, NASA provided an opportunity to view the Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the Crew Dragon Endeavor in all its glory at the historic site 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A drone shot the video, and the dark clouds and yellow sky add drama to the scene. The rocket is positioned at the portal tower, which provides electricity, fuel, cooling, and allows four crew members to transfer to the spacecraft before launch. The same tower was used for lunar missions and the launch of the Space Shuttle.
The Crew-2 team includes American astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Agency, and Frenchman Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency.
“It’s a pleasure to be here at Kennedy Space Center, ” Crew-2 commander Shane Kimbrough said on April 18. ” We already had a training session this morning, yesterday we had to go to the site to see the rocket and our spacecraft, which was very exciting for us. “
SpaceX successfully implements a $ 2.6 billion contract with NASA: the Crew-3 mission is scheduled for October 23, and the Crew-4 will take place in 2022. In case of successful launch and docking of Crew-2 to the ISS, two American spacecraft will be at the station simultaneously. The return of the first one, shipped in November 2020, is set for April 28th. He will bring four astronauts back to earth: Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Soichi Noguchi.
The Starliner, which rival Boeing is building under a $ 4.2 billion contract with NASA, is behind schedule and still not ready to deliver people into space: a test flight to the ISS without a crew failed in December 2019, and NASA identified more than 80 problems. After several months of delays, the second test flight, known as the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, was recently postponed to August due to avionics problems. Thus, the first manned flight tests are now planned to be carried out no earlier than September. The mission will be attended by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nicole Mann, and Mike Fincke.
