A second Iranian-American in space joins a fully international crew preparing for its launch on Friday (August 25).
The SpaceX Crew-7 mission will launch to the International Space Station at the latest. Friday (25th August) 3:50 am EDT (0750 GMT) And then you can watch live here Via feeds from Space.com, NASA Television.Broadcast starts at Thursday (August 24) 11:45 pm EDT (Friday, August 25, 0345 GMT).
In the event of weather or technical difficulties, a backup launch opportunity will be available on Saturday (26 August) at 3:27am (7:27 GMT).
NASA officials said Crew-7 passed its flight readiness review without major problems. midnight update Thursday (August 24th). Weather conditions also look good for launch, but only a 15% chance of violating weather constraints. According to Patrick Space Force Stationwhich manages the airspace for the NASA Kennedy Space Center launch site area in Florida.
Four astronauts are scheduled to go to space on Expedition 69/70. NASA astronaut Jasmine Mogberg is the second Iranian-American to go into space. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. and Konstantin Borisov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Related: SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission launches international crew to ISS
It’s been almost 20 years since an Iranian-American flew into space. The first such person was space traveler Anoushe Ansari, who self-financed his ISS mission in 2006.
Mogberg told Space.com about his milestone aboard Crew-7 on July 25 in a pre-launch video interview from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I think people, especially young people, can really believe that if they can connect with someone else, they can do something.
“That’s why we’re adding diversity to the people who fly in space,” Mogberg added, adding, “We hope that future generations will have more people able to do the same for themselves.” I think we’re opening the door for people to believe that,” he added.
By the way, Mogberg’s family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, which would take place during her roughly 190 days in space. She plans a felt menorah for Hanukkah. She said in July she even considered the possibility of making latke, potato pancakes traditionally eaten on Hanukkah during her time on the ISS.
Related: Meet the SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts launching to the ISS on August 25th
Mogensen will be on his second space mission, following a 10-day Soyuz mission to the ISS in 2016, when he became the first Danish to go into space. During this time, SpaceX has made great strides, starting commercial crew missions on behalf of NASA in 2020, while continuing to carry cargo in Dragon’s unmanned versions since 2010.
A NASA-funded mission by SpaceX will carry astronauts to the ISS aboard a fully reusable Crew Dragon spacecraft and a partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket, whose first stage will be self-powered. to return to Earth and land on a drone ship or land.
In another pre-launch interview with Space.com on July 25, Mogensen said, “SpaceX, what they’ve accomplished in the last decade or so has been remarkable. And it’s been a pleasure working with them. was,” he said. “They’ve come an incredibly long way. It’s really exciting to see how much they’ve achieved in terms of reusability and how much they’ve really changed human spaceflight.”
Related: How many astronauts can fly on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule?
Furukawa, who went to space on Expedition 28 and Expedition 29 in 2016, said he already knew what was missing on Earth. In another pre-launch interview on July 25, he said, “I really miss walking in the green forest because I miss the green on the space station.”
Astronauts can see blue Earth and brown deserts from space, he said, but finding green is a little more difficult. Furukawa turned to technology to fill that gap. “I tried to watch a forest video, and it was a strange feeling,” he said. “I miss green more than I thought.”
On the maiden flight, Borisov said he wanted to incorporate his love of yoga into the routine of the astronauts’ two-and-a-half hours of exercise each day. But how to do that without gravity would be difficult. “I know how to breathe,” he said July 25, referring to common tools yogis use to stretch and hold difficult poses.
But since few astronauts have tried yoga other than ESA’s Samantha Cristoforetti, she’ll have to forge her own path in zero gravity. Nor, he added, would a typical video shot using the earth’s gravity be a useful guide without that power.