UAE astronaut's 25-hour trip in space: How AlNeyadi, Crew-6 mates will reach ISS

The SpaceX Crew-6 members are in orbit following their successful launch to the International Space Station at 9.34am UAE time.

The SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, into orbit carrying UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, Nasa astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, for a science expedition aboard the orbital laboratory.

“Congratulations to the NASA and SpaceX teams for another history-making mission to the International Space Station,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Crew-6 will be busy aboard the International Space Station, conducting over 200 experiments that will help us to prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, as well as improve life here on Earth. We look forward to seeing all that they accomplish.”

Shedding light on the lift-off, during a post-launch press conference, Steve Stitch, Manager, Commercial Crew Programme NASA says: “Overall, I thought the team did a great job tonight (in the US) working through some minor issues and getting into account. We watched the weather really carefully for the attempt tonight. In particular the winds in the staging area were right at the limits and those held within limits. Our meteorological team, the 45th Space Wing and meteorologists in Houston did a great job with the forecasting and gave us a great opportunity to launch tonight. The vehicle dragon is on orbit and it's doing really well.”

NASA officials reiterated Crew-6 will continue to maximize the important research possible only in the space station’s unique microgravity environment.

What happens after the launch?

During Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft manoeuvres from its mission control centre in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

Dragon will dock autonomously to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module around 10:17am UAE time.

On arrival at ISS

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will now execute a series of automatic manoeuvres, monitored by both the crew and the mission control centre, to guide the spacecraft to the space-facing port of the Harmony module at the ISS.

Subsequently, the spacecraft's orbit will be gradually raised through a sequence of manoeuvers, positioning it for rendezvous and docking with the space station within minutes. While designed for autonomous docking, the crew can manually pilot the spacecraft, if required.

Following docking, the crew of Expedition 68/69 will welcome Crew-6 into the space station.

For a short time, the 11 crew members will live and work in space together until Crew-5 members return to Earth a few days later.

Crew-5, which precedes Crew-6, will undock and splash down off the coast of Florida, several days after Crew-6's arrival.

While aboard the ISS, Crew-6 will witness the arrival of cargo spacecraft, including the SpaceX Dragon and Roscosmos Progress, and they will also have the opportunity to welcome the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts and the Axiom Mission-2 crew during their expedition.

The Crew-6 mission enables NASA to maximize use of the space station, where astronauts have lived and worked continuously for more than 22 years testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low-Earth orbit and explore farther from Earth.

Research conducted on the space station provides benefits for people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration trips to the Moon and beyond through NASA’s Artemis missions.

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