NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 To Launch First Arab Astronaut For Long-Duration Mission To ISS Tomorrow. All About It
NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 will be launched to the ISS from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 6:45 UTC (12:15 pm IST) on February 27.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-6: NASA and SpaceX are set to launch four crew members to the International Space Station on February 27, 2023, as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission. Crew-6, which includes NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody Hoburg", United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will be launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. They will lift off into space from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 6:45 UTC (12:15 pm IST) on February 27.
AlNeyadi is set to become the first Arab astronaut to carry out a long-duration mission on the orbital laboratory.
ALSO READ | Who Is Sultan AlNeyadi? First Arab Astronaut To Fly To ISS For Long-Duration Mission
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft aboard which Crew-6 will fly is called Endeavour. This is the Dragon spacecraft which previously flew NASA's Crew-1, Inspiration4 and Axiom Mission-1 astronauts.
Teams have installed new components, including the heat shield, nosecone, trunk and some Draco engines as part of the refurbishment process. The hardware components help the Dragon spacecraft withstand atmospheric re-entry heat, support docking and cargo space, and provide steering and thrust to the spacecraft, NASA says on its website.
Teams have also prepared a first-flight Falcon 9 booster for the mission. The four crew members will spend six months aboard the orbital laboratory, before returning to Earth.
All about the crew
Crew-6 members include Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Sultan AlNeyadi and Andrey Fedyaev.
Stephen Bowen
Crew-6 is Bowen's fourth trip to space as a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He flew the STS-126, STS-132 and STS-133 missions in 2008, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Bowen has spent a total of 40 days in space, including 47 hours, 18 minutes during seven spacewalks.
Bowen will serve as the mission commander for Crew-6, and will be responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. Aboard the ISS, Bowen will serve as an Expedition 69 flight engineer aboard the microgravity laboratory.
Born in Cohasset, Massachusetts, Bowen holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a master's degree in ocean engineering from the Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Bowen is the first submarine officer to be selected as an astronaut by NASA. He became a NASA astronaut in July 2000.
Warren Hoburg
Hoburg was selected as an astronaut in 2017. Crew-6 is Hoburg's first human spaceflight mission. He will serve as the mission pilot aboard Endeavour, and look after the spacecraft systems and their performance.
Hoburg will serve as an Expedition 69 flight engineer aboard the orbital laboratory.
Hoburg, who is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT, and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. Hoburg was an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, at the time of his selection as an astronaut.
Hoburg conducted research on efficient methods for design of engineering systems. He is also a commercial pilot.
Sultan AlNeyadi
AlNeyadi is representing the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center of the UAE. He is set to become the first UAE astronaut to fly on a commercial spacecraft. Aboard the Dragon spacecraft, he will serve as a mission specialist.
On July 25, 2022, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president and prime minister of the UAE, made an announcement on Twitter in Arabic about AlNeyadi being chosen among a group of Emirati astronauts at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre for a six-month long mission on the ISS.
Hazza Al Mansouri and AlNeyadi were the first persons from the UAE to fly to space. They were launched to the orbital outpost aboard a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft on September 25, 2019, and spent eight days on the ISS.
AlNeyadi was a backup spaceflight participant during his short-duration mission to the orbital laboratory in 2019.
AlNeyadi, 41, was born in Umm Ghafa, 30 kilometres southeast of Al Ain, in Abu Dhabi. He received primary and secondary education in Abu Dhabi, excelling in academics. He decided to study Communications Engineering, according to the International Astronautical Federation.
AlNeyadi began his higher education in the UK, receiving a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Brighton in the UK.
After receiving his bachelor's degree, he returned to the UAE and studied at Zayed Military College for a year. He worked as a network security engineer for the UAE Armed Forces, and visited more than 20 countries. In 2008, he went to Australia to pursue a Master's degree in Information and Networks Security from Griffith University.
AlNeyadi returned to Australia in 2012, and stayed there for five years. There, he completed his PhD in Data Leakage Prevention Technology. He has published six research papers on international websites.
More than 4,000 astronaut candidates had undergone a series of physical and mental tests in the UAE and abroad. From these candidates, AlNeyadi was selected for the UAE Astronaut Programme.
AlNeyadi practises Jujutsu, and this helped him be ahead of other candidates and successfully passed the UAE Astronaut Programme's tests. In September 2018, he travelled to Russia as part of the agreement between the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and Roscosmos to train Emirati astronauts. In Russia, AlNeyadi received the necessary training for his short-duration mission to the space station in 2019.
AlNeyadi has also received an astronaut badge from NASA's Johnson Space Center.
AlNeyadi has undergone intensive preparation for the SpaceX Crew-6 mission at the Johnson Space Center.
Aboard the space station, AlNeyadi will conduct several in-depth and advanced scientific experiments as part of the UAE Astronaut Programme.
AlNeyadi has received spacewalk training and onboard system training at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
AlNeyadi will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 69 aboard the microgravity laboratory.
Andrey Fedyaev
Crew-6 will be Fedyaev's first trip to space. He will serve as a mission specialist aboard Endeavour, and a flight engineer for Expedition 69 aboard the space station.
Fedyaev's role aboard Endeavour will be to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight.
Overview of Crew-6 mission
Endeavour will accelerate Crew-6 to a speed of approximately 28,164 kilometres per hour, after lifting off into space atop a Falcon 9 rocket, and put the crew on an intercept course with the space station.
Once the four crew members reach orbit, they will monitor a series of automatic manoeuvres, along with SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California. This will guide Endeavour to the space-facing port of the orbital outpost's Harmony module.
Endeavour will perform several manoeuvres to gradually raise its orbit, and reach the position to rendezvous and dock with its new home in orbit. While Endeavour is designed to dock automatically, the crew can take control and pilot manually, if necessary.
The seven-member crew of Expedition 69 will welcome Crew-6 after Endeavour is docked. Several days after the arrival of Crew-6 on the space station, the astronauts of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 will undock from the orbital laboratory and splash down off the coast of Florida.
Crew-6 will also see the arrival of cargo spacecraft, including the SpaceX Dragon and Roscosmos Progress. The crew members are also expected to welcome NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts and the Axiom Mission-2 crew during their stay on the space station.
After the mission concludes, Endeavour will autonomously undock from the space station with the four crew members aboard, depart the orbital laboratory, and re-enter Earth's atmosphere. They will splash down off the coast of Florida, following which a SpaceX recovery vessel will pick them up, and helicopter them back to shore.
Crew-6 is SpaceX's sixth crew rotation mission to the orbital outpost, and the seventh flight of Crew Dragon with people as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. In December 2021, Bowen and Hoburg were assigned to the Crew-6 mission, following which they started working and training for their flight on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and their stay aboard the orbital laboratory.
In July 2022, Fedyaev and AlNeyadi were added as the third and fourth crew members for Crew-6.
The four crew members will perform science and technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities during their stay on the space station.
Scientific research to be performed by Crew-6
Crew-6 will conduct several interesting scientific experiments and research such as studies of how particular materials burn in microgravity, tissue chip research on heart, brain and cartilage functions, and an investigation that will collect microbial samples from the outside of the space station. These experiments will help astronauts prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit life on Earth.
Crew-6 will perform more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations during their six-month mission.
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