On Friday, April 23 at 5:49 a.m. EDT, 9:49 UTC, SpaceX and NASA launched Dragon’s second six-month operational crew mission (Crew-2) to the International Space Station (ISS) from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Crew-2 is currently in orbit and is expected to autonomously dock with the International Space Station on Saturday, April 24, at approximately 5:10 a.m. EDT, 9:10 UTC.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard, Friday, April 23, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Prime Crew 2
On 28 July 2020, JAXA, ESA and NASA bear out their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.
Astronauts Details:
Shane Kimbrough-born June 4, 1967
Position: Spacecraft commander
Country: USA
Astronaut:
Shane Kimbrough, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Third spaceflight
Katherine Megan McArthur-born August 30, 1971
Position: Pilot
Country: USA
Astronaut:
K. Megan McArthur, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Second spaceflight
Akihiko Hoshide-born December 28, 1968
Position: Mission Specialist 1
Country: Japan
Astronaut:
Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA
Expedition 65/66
Third spaceflight
Thomas Gautier Pesquet-born 26 February 1978
Position: Mission Specialist 1
Country: France
Astronaut:
Thomas Pesquet, ESA
Expedition 65/66
Second spaceflight
Back up crew 2
Satoshi Furukawa-born April 4, 1964
Position: Mission Specialist 1
Country: Japan
Astronaut:
Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Matthias Josef Maurer-born 18 March 1970
Position: Mission Specialist 2
Country: Germany
Astronaut:
Matthias Maurer, ESA