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Month: August 2023

Astronauts bound for space station on SpaceX Crew-7 arrive at KSC

Astronauts bound for space station on SpaceX Crew-7 arrive at KSC

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Four astronauts from four countries arrived at the Space Coast on Sunday ahead of this week’s planned launch of the SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station.

“If ever you’ve seen the evidence of this being an international program, you’re seeing it today with this group,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who welcomed the crew on the tarmac at the Launch and Landing Facility at KSC after arriving from Houston on a NASA Gulfstream jet. “Of all the crews, this is the most international that we’ve had and I think shows the breadth of the cooperation around the globe. So, let’s get on with the launch.”

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaks with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli; upon her arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, for her upcoming Crew-7 mission, on Sunday, August 20, 2023. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaks with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli; upon her arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, for her upcoming Crew-7 mission, on Sunday, August 20, 2023.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)

It’s the first time a SpaceX Crew Dragon will be flying with astronauts from four different space agencies. They are set to fly in the Crew Dragon Endurance making its third trip to space and aiming for liftoff from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at 3:26 a.m. Friday. Backup opportunities fall on Saturday and Sunday.

The flight has just one NASA astronaut, mission commander Jasmin Moghbeli, the seventh of the 2017 class of astronaut candidates known as “The Turtles” to fly into space. It was a nickname given to them by the previous astronaut class. read more