A confirmation has arrived that three Chinese taikonauts from the Shenzhou 16 mission reached the Chinese space station Tiangong with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about seven hours earlier on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They form the fifth crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, the standard duration for a mission.
A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module performing the first part of its private mission Axiom Mission 2 or simply Ax-2. It blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center when it was afternoon in the USA. After verifying that the pressure is properly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow crew members to enter the Station.
A little bit more than one year after the Ax-1 mission, a new collaboration between public entities, which this time besides NASA includes the Saudi Space Commission, and private ones, sent new astronauts to the International Space Station to conduct a series of scientific experiments on behalf of entities that generally can’t carry out studies in microgravity conditions.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft concluded its Crew-5, or SpaceX Crew-5, mission for NASA by landing without problems. On board were astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, and Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who had reached the International Space Station on October 6, 2022, and were part of Expedition 68. The four of them finished the fifth regular crewed mission of SpaceX in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Tampa, Florida. The Crew Dragon departed the Station about nineteen hours earlier.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station completing the first part of its Crew-6 or SpaceX Crew-6 mission that began with its launch a little more than 24 hours earlier. After checking that the pressure was properly balanced, the hatch was opened to allow Andrey Fedyaev, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, and Sultan Alneyadi to enter the Station and start their mission, which will last about six months.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-6 or SpaceX Crew-6 mission. After almost exactly twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the 6th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew. This is also the fourth mission for the Endeavour.
