NASA SpaceX Crew-2 set for launch on April 22

Washington:  US space agency NASA is set to launch SpaceX Crew Dragon second flight to the International Space Station on April 22, it said.

The Crew-2 with four astronauts on board will lift off at 6:11 a.m. EDT on April 22, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew-2 flight will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur — whoa-will serve as the mission’s spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively — along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronauta-Akihikoa-Hoshidea-and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomasa-Pesquet, whoa-will serve as mission specialists to the space station, the space agency said in a statement.

The mission is the second of the six certified, crew missions NASA, and SpaceX will fly as a part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Programme. Crew-1 successfully docked into the ISS in November, last year.

The Crew-2 astronauts will remain aboard the space station for approximately six months as expedition crew members, along with three crewmates who will launch via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The increase of the full space station crew complement to seven members — over the previous six – will allow NASA to effectively double the amount of science that can be conducted in space, NASA said.

(IANS)