The crew briefly kept themselves entertained during the checks by playing rounds of rock-paper-scissors, a superstitious tradition that all astronauts that launch out of KSC observe before flight.įrom left are mission specialist Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, pilot Megan McArthur and commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and mission specialist Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
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The astronauts spent hours being strapped into the capsule by a team of SpaceX helpers, and running through a series of communications and safety checks. They then enjoyed handpicked playlists - one of which included tunes by Ozzy Osbourne, Foo Fighters and Metallica - inside the Teslas that drove them to the launch pad before they were whisked up the launch tower, and accessed the spacecraft via aerial walkway. The calm before the storm L-1 #Crew2 /bp6z2zTBNl- Thomas Pesquet April 22, 2021Īfter enjoying time at the beach Thursday and getting some sleep, the crew was at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to suit up shortly after midnight. Though the company has re-flown boosters and spacecraft dozens of times on satellite and cargo launches over the past several years, this will mark the first time the company will reuse hardware for a crewed mission. SpaceX has long made reusability a cornerstone of its business plan, hoping that recovering and refurbishing hardware will drive down the cost of spaceflight. Endeavour soared into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that was also charred with soot from a previous mission it flew in November 2020. The Crew Dragon capsule, named “Endeavour,” previously carried NASA’s Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the space station in May 2020. They’re due to spend six months aboard the International Space Station after their Crew Dragon capsule docks early Saturday morning.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will be joined by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan. This launch marked the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk’s company and the first to make use of a previously flown rocket booster and spacecraft.
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