On Friday, February 13, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Dragon spacecraft into orbit with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hatway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They comprise the Crew-12 crew. This was reported by UNN with reference to NASA.
Details
During the Dragon's flight, SpaceX will control a series of automated spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA will control space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA said.
It is also reported that NASA's live broadcast will resume at 1:15 PM on Saturday, February 14, on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency's YouTube channel. It will cover the approach, docking, and hatch opening of the International Space Station. After docking, the crew will change out of their spacesuits and prepare cargo for unloading, then open the hatch between Dragon and the ISS Harmony module.
NASA will also provide a broadcast of the welcome ceremony aboard the space station shortly after the hatch opening.
During its mission, the Crew-12 crew will conduct scientific research to prepare for space exploration beyond low Earth orbit and for the benefit of humanity on Earth. Crew members will study pneumonia-causing bacteria to improve treatments for cardiovascular disease, develop an on-demand intravenous fluid delivery system for future space missions, and investigate how physical characteristics can affect blood flow during spaceflight. Other experiments include automated plant health monitoring and research into the interaction of plants and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms to increase crop yields in space.
Additionally
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced an earlier-than-expected launch date for the next astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission was planned for February 11.
Recall
Earlier, UNN reported that the SLS rocket with the Orion capsule arrived at Launch Pad 39B of the Kennedy Space Center.