SpaceX Launches NASA’s Crew-5 Mission to International Space Station
The latest group of astronauts is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) following a textbook SpaceX launch. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off just after noon local time on Wednesday, beginning the Crew-5 mission. The astronauts will arrive at the station about 29 hours after launch to begin their stint in Earth orbit. This is also the first mission in which SpaceX is picking up the slack from Boeing’s delayed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
Crew-5 includes NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, as well as Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. All will spend six months living and working aboard the ISS. As the name implies, this is the fifth crewed flight for NASA operated by SpaceX, which has the only vehicle certified to carry astronauts for NASA at this time. This launch brings its total astronaut passenger count to an even 30.
SpaceX has been launching rockets at an incredible pace over the past several years. When you figure in demo missions and private launches, this is the eighth crewed launch for SpaceX in just two years. Naturally, it succeeded in landing the first-stage booster on a drone ship following separation, something that was worthy of coverage all on its own earlier in the Falcon 9’s life but has now become commonplace.
Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Dragon! pic.twitter.com/TKEw6S1rKE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 5, 2022
The two NASA astronauts were originally slated to go up on Boeing’s Starliner, but NASA made the unusual decision earlier this year to reassign them to a SpaceX flight, citing ongoing delays getting Boeing’s vehicle certified. The long-time government contractor suffered a major setback in late 2019, compounded by smaller glitches all through the pandemic. It only recently completed its uncrewed demo mission in May 2022. NASA traded seats with Roscosmos to get Kikina aboard the Dragon. That makes her the first Russian cosmonaut to fly in the Crew Dragon, and the first to fly on any US spacecraft since 2002.
SpaceX announced earlier this year it was ending production of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Since the Falcon 9 and Dragon are both reusable, its current fleet should be sufficient to fulfill all current SpaceX contracts while it continues work on the Starship. This mega-rocket is the next-gen platform for Elon Musk’s spaceflight firm, which will eventually replace the Falcon 9. Musk has made some big promises about what Starship and its Super Heavy first stage will do, including but not limited to transporting people around the globe in an hour and colonizing Mars.
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