New Delhi: Four astronauts were launched towards the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, April 27, as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:52 am EDT (1:22 pm IST), from the historic Launch Complex 39-A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Crew-4 astronauts will conduct several science experiments aboard the microgravity laboratory during their four-and-a-half month stay, and will return to Earth in the fall of 2022.
The Crew-4 mission patch features a dragonfly, which is an agile flyer and a symbol of good luck. The patch is designed by Alexandra Lindgren, daughter of Kjell Lindgren, because of which the concept and symbolism is close to the crew's heart, according to NASA.
The mission is the fourth crew rotation to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, and the fifth SpaceX flight with NASA astronauts, as part of the US space agency's Commercial Crew Program.
The astronauts named the Crew Dragon spacecraft "Freedom" to celebrate the fundamental right of freedom. About 10 minutes after launch, Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.
The "Freedom" spacecraft will accelerate the astronauts to approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
During their 16 hour flight to the space station, the spacecraft and the Crew-4 astronauts will orbit the Earth 10 times, SpaceX said in a mission update.
The four astronauts are expected to dock into the space station's Harmony module, on Wednesday, April 27, at 8:15 pm EDT (Thursday, April 28, at 5:45 am IST).
After docking is complete, the seven-member crew of Expedition 67 will welcome the Crew-4 astronauts inside the microgravity laboratory.
The Crew-4 astronauts will conduct experiments in research areas such as materials science, health technologies, and plant science to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit life on Earth.