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Four astronauts will board a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday for a trip to the International Space Station, and the team has completed a dress rehearsal that led to the historic launch.
The astronauts, named Crew-1, embarked on the walk through Kennedy Space Center as did Ben Behnken and Dough Hurley in May when they prepared for “Launch America” which brought spaceflight back to US soil.
Wearing the same white, futuristic SpaceX suites, 1-crew commander Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi arrived at the complex in two Tesla Model X cars.
The team then emerged from the crew quarters, smiled and waved goodbye, then boarded the Teksa for the 20-minute journey to Launch Complex 39A, just as they’ll do on November 14 earlier for launch at 7pm: 49 ET.
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Wearing the same white, futuristic SpaceX suites, 1-crew commander Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi arrived at the complex with two Tesla Model X cars.
The Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft have been installed on the launch pad since November 9, waiting for the team to embark on the epic journey to the International Space Station (ISS)
The test ended with the go and no-go survey for the loading of the Falcon 9 propellant, which normally takes place 45 minutes before launch.
The NASA-SpaceX mission was supposed to be launched in the early hours of Halloween, but due to a problem with the Falcon 9 engine, the event was rescheduled.
And with the mission just days away, NASA astronauts and engineers are preparing.
The team then emerged from the crew quarters, smiled and waved goodbye, then boarded the Teksa for the 20-minute journey to Launch Complex 39A, just as they’ll do on November 14 earlier for launch at 7pm: 49 ET
The Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft have been installed on the launch pad since November 9, waiting for the team to embark on the epic journey to the International Space Station
Crew-1 have conducted a dress rehearsal while engineers have reviewed preparations and are also keeping an eye on tropical storm Eta which is providing a “forecast challenge”.
On Wednesday the 45th Meteorological Squadron released a weather update stating that “Eta, now a hurricane, will remain a stubborn challenge to forecasting in the coming days as it moves north very close to the west central coast of Florida.”
On launch day, the forecast indicates a 60% probability of favorable launch conditions.
Take-off winds are suggested to be between 12 and 17 miles per hour, with low upper level wind shear.
SpaceX shared a tweet shortly after the release saying they “will continue to monitor weather conditions for takeoff and along the flight path.”
If time permits, the four-person team will bond to the Crew Dragon capsule they called “Resilience” and board the ISS.
In the photo the commander of the crew-1 Michael Hopkins (right, front row), Victor Glover (left, front row), Shannon Walker (left, back) and the Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi (right, At bottom)
Weather permitting, the four-person team will bond with the Crew Dragon capsule they called “ Resilience ” and board the ISS
The Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon capsule also completed integrated static fire on Wednesday, which is a key pre-launch milestone.
Standing on the launch pad of Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the nine engines of the rocket’s Merlin first stage were fired for 7 seconds for this critical but routine test.
NASA and SpaceX will meet on Friday to review coronavirus protocols, review launch readiness, and conduct final assessment of the flight and crew.
The Crew-1 mission follows the successful launch in May, when NASA and SpaceX sent Behnken and Hurley to the ISS.
The astronauts, named Crew-1, embarked on the walk through Kennedy Space Center as well as Ben Behnken (right) and Dough Hurley (left) in May, when they prepared for “Launch America” which has reported space flight on US soil.
Bob Benhken (back) and Doug Hurley (front) drove to Kennedy Space Center in May in the same Tesla Model X of the Crew-1 team
This mission was the precursor to Saturday’s trip, as the team was tasked with testing the Crew Dragon capsule to validate its performance.
This included testing with the environmental control system, displays, thrusters and other technologies.
However, when Behnken and Hurley returned from a two-month stay on the ISS, NASA began moving forward with its plans for Crew 1.
The four astronauts of crew-1 will spend six months on the ISS, where they will conduct a series of experiments and perform a series of tasks.
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