NASA SpaceX Crew-3, Led By Indian Origin Astronaut Raja Chari, Reaches Space Station To Join Expedition 66

Crew Dragon Endurance, carrying NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts, docked autonomously into the forward port of the station's Harmony Module at 5:02 am IST, almost 22 hours after liftoff

New Delhi: NASA SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer have reached the International Space Station, almost a day after launch. SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance, carrying the Crew-3 astronauts, docked automatically into the space station on Thursday, November 11 at 6:32 pm EST (Friday, November 12 at 5:02 am), NASA said in a mission update.

Chari, Marshburn, and Barron are NASA astronauts, while Maurer is from the European Space Agency. Chari serves as the mission commander for Crew-3, Marshburn is the pilot, and Barron and Maurer are mission specialists.

The Endurance spacecraft was flying 263 miles above the eastern Carribbean Sea while docking, according to NASA. 

"#Crew3 has officially made it to the @Space_Station!", the space agency tweeted.

Endurance Spacecraft's Journey Towards The Space Station

Endurance began the final phase of its approach to the ISS at 5:02 pm EST Wednesday (3:32 am Friday).

At 4:53 am IST, NASA tweeted about the arrival of Endurance at the hold point 20 metres from the space station. 

A series of automatic maneuvers, controlled by the crew and SpaceX mission control, evaluated the lighting before giving a final "go" for docking.

Endurance docked autonomously into the forward port of the station's Harmony Module almost twenty two hours after liftoff. 

The spacecraft went through a handful of checks before the hatch was opened, according to a live broadcast by NASA. Standard leak checks were conducted by the Crew-3 astronauts aboard Endurance, and the space station.

At 7:01 am IST, NASA tweeted that the four new astronauts have entered the space station through the hatch. The Crew-3 is aboard the orbital laboratory after almost exactly a day from launch, mentions the tweet. 

After the departure of the Crew-2 astronauts, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov remained on the International Space Station. A ceremony to welcome the Crew-3 astronauts commenced at approximately 7:30 am IST. 

With the arrival of the Crew-3 astronauts, the total population on the space station has become seven, all of whom will be part of Expedition 66.

Also, Maurer has officially become the 600th person in space. Shkaplerov has been the commander of the space station since November 8. At the end of Expedition 66 in early 2022, Shkaplerov, Dubrov, Vande Hei, Chari, Marshburn, Barron, and Maurer will be transferred to Expedition 67, according to NASA. 

They will be joined by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov in March 2022.

The Crew-3 astronauts blasted off into space on Wednesday, November 10 at 9:03 pm EST (Thursday, November 11 at 7:33 am IST), on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39 A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Crew-3 is the third crew rotation mission of SpaceX's human space transportation system. During their six-month stay aboard the ISS, the Crew-3 astronauts will conduct science experiments and maintenance activities, according to NASA. They will perform scientific research in areas such as material science, health technologies, and plant science to prepare for human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA's Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA's Artemis program. 

The Crew-3 astronauts are slated to return to Earth in April 2022.