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SpaceX and NASA are preparing for the first real flight to the ISS. Read interesting facts about his crew.
If weather conditions allow, the long wait of the four crew members of the SpaceX Crew Dragon module’s first sharp flight will end this evening. The three NASA astronauts and their Japanese JAXA colleague will have to leave Florida to “land” on the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, where they will spend about six months.
This is a big event for the United States. At the end of May, it was the first time since 2011 that American astronauts flew into space on American rockets and from American soil. But it was still just a test. This time we are going for a pointed capsule Crew Dragon has received official certification from NASA and will serve as a “space elevator” for years to come.
However, it is interesting not only the fate of the module, the development of which took many years, but also the crew themselves. Therefore, before the night flight, scheduled for Monday 1.27 of our time, we will introduce it shortly after one.
NASA is sending people back to the ISS. Why didn’t anyone care yet?
Michael S. Hopkins: module commander
American from the state of Missouri, 51-year-old Michael Scott Hopkins (@Astro_illini) is already looking forward to his second “space trip”. He spent 28 years in the United States Air Force and has received numerous awards. This summer it was moved to the newly created United States Space Force.
Hopkins entered the astronaut program in 2009. He was the first of his “class” to enter space, most notably in 2013 when he flew to Russian Soyuz as a flight engineer. It spent 166 days in orbit, including 13 hours in open space.
Interestingly, he was also aboard the ISS by the time the Olympic torch landed on it, which Hopkins’ Russian colleagues then took for a “walk” in open space.
“I hope people realize this isn’t just another start – it’s something much bigger,” he said just days before the current flight to the ISS. NASA and SpaceX assigned him aboard Crew-1 flight in August 2018.
Photo gallery
Michael S. Hopkins.
Source: SpaceX, NASA
Personal goal for this mission: “Land safely and return to our families.”
Favorite food: beef steak.
Favorite hobbies: “Anything with my family.”
How would you spend a day on Mars: “You’re on Mars. That alone is enough!”
Victor J. Glover: pilot
For Crew Dragon pilot (for which the crew chose the name Resilience) and US Navy pilot Victor Jerome Glover (@AstroVicGlover), will be his space preview in his 44 years. A native of sunny California, he was also assigned aboard Crew-1 in August 2018, along with Hopkins.
In his job, he apparently also had time for education. Even before joining the astronaut program in 2013, he managed to get three engineering degrees.
He learned that NASA had cast him as an astronaut while working for the late Senator John McCain. When he got a call from NASA, he went to tell him he had good news and bad news. “Let me guess. You’re going to be an astronaut, aren’t you?” He wasn’t surprised. As it turned out, behind-the-scenes information reached him even before Glover himself.
He will soon become the first African American to be sent on a long-term mission aboard the space station. The United States cleverly sent six dark-skinned Americans to the ISS during the shuttle era, but none of them remained on it as part of the permanent crew.
But as the ArsTechnica website points out, Glover doesn’t want to talk much about this record. “I’d like to have another interview in six months from now,” ArsTechnica said in a recent interview. “I want to go there first. I want to do my job first. So I think the best I can do – better than anything I could say – is to go do my job and do it right, then go back and talk to people about it.”
Photo gallery
Victor J. Glover.
Source: SpaceX, NASA
Personal goal for this mission: “Take lots of photos.”
Most popular dance: walk on the moon.
Personal vice: “When I have time and can afford to do nothing, I love doing nothing.”
Favorite hobbies: “If I could fly more, I would fly more.”
Favorite decade: “Eighty. Why eighty”.
Shannon Walker: Flight Specialist
Flight specialist, 55-year-old Shannon Walker of Houston, differs from the rest of the crew in one thing. And we don’t mean gender. She is the only one without a Twitter account.
Unlike the pilots, she too was deployed on a mission later, just a few months ago, at the end of March. Therefore, his wait for his second space flight was not that long.
On the American side of the crew, she is the longest in the astronaut program, since 2005. She will currently become the first woman to fly into space in a commercial machine. Among the men, the test pilots of the Demo-2 flight – Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken – are the first.
In the late 1980s, Walker, as a flight controller, participated herself in seven shuttle missions. For a change, in the new millennium he led communication with the STS-118 mission. It completed its only flight, which lasted 163 days, in 2010, but already in the Soyuz module.
Shannon Walker isn’t the only astronaut in the family. Her husband, Andrew Thomas, a former Australian astronaut, now had the same profession.
Photo gallery
Shannon Walkerová.
Source: SpaceX, NASA
Personal goal for this mission: “Do our job and have fun doing it.”
Most popular dance: sauce.
The hardest part of astronaut training: “Mentally – Russian language.”
What would you like to achieve as an astronaut: walking on the moon.
If you could choose superpower, what would it be: teleportácia.
Flight flight specialist Soichi Noguchi
The only non-US member of the Crew-1 crew is Soichi Noguchi, 55, a flight specialist (@AstroSoichi) from Yokohama. He is the oldest of all and at the same time the most experienced in the practice of astronauts.
He joined the Japanese space agency JAXA in the astronaut program in 1996 and is the only one of the current crew who has tried to fly by shuttle, but also by the Russian Soyuz. Now the “collection” is completed by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
It flew over the shuttle in 2005. It was the first mission after more than two years of disruption caused by the Columbia flight disaster. Nohuchi drove to Soyuz in late 2009.
“By far the most challenging thing about space flight is not experiencing weightlessness, it’s not a rocket, but time out of the family,” described a father of three before the current flight, adding: “Space it’s clearly a risky business. However, the reward outweighs the risk, so we take it. “
Photo gallery
Soichi Noguchi.
Source: SpaceX, NASA
Personal goal for this mission: “Enjoy every moment, come home with a smile.”
Favorite food: Sushi.
Most popular movie: Star Wars.
The most annoying thing: “People who don’t use turn signals. Come on, is it that hard?”
Favorite decade: “Eighty. Because I was young and stupid. In that order.”
Falcon 9 rocket with module The start of Crew Dragon is scheduled for tonight Monday through Monday at 1.27 of our time. However, there is only a 50% chance that the weather conditions are suitable at the time of the scheduled departure. Therefore, postponing the start to another day will not be a surprise.
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