A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-5 or SpaceX Crew-5 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 5th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew. This is also the second mission for the Endurance.
The four new members of the International Space Station crew, who are added to the Expedition 68 crew, are:
Koichi Wakata. Born on August 1, 1963, in Ōmiya, Saitama, Japan. He earned a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering in 1987, a master of science in applied mechanics in 1989, and a doctorate in aerospace engineering in 2004 from the University of Hyushu. Between 1989 and 1992 he worked as a structural engineer at Japan Airlines. In 1992 he was selected as an astronaut candidate by the then National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), which later became JAXA, the Japanese space agency. After a period of training, also at NASA, he was part of the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in the STS-72 mission in 1996 and the Space Shuttle Discovery in the STS-92 mission in 2000 also working on the assembly of the International Space Station. In August 2006 he participated in a seven-day underwater expedition at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aquarius Laboratory off the Florida coast. In 2009 he was part of the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery in the STS-119 mission but remained on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 18, 19, and 20 before returning to Earth on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in the STS-127 mission. He also served on the Station as part of the Expedition 38/39 crew, becoming its commander in the second part. He’s married and has a son.
Nicole Aunapu “Duke” Mann. Born on June 27, 1977, in Petaluma, California, USA, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, and a master’s degree with a specialization in fluid mechanics from Stanford University in 2001. As an officer of the Marine Corps, she participated in various military missions as an aircraft pilot and was also a test pilot. She was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 2013. She’s on her first space mission.
Josh Aaron Cassada. Born on July 18, 1973, in San Diego, California, USA, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Albion College in 1995, a master’s in 1997, and a Ph.D. in High Energy Particle Physics from the University of Rochester in 2000. As an officer in the US Navy, he served as an aircraft pilot, instructor pilot, and test pilot. He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2013. He was assigned to the first launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft but, due to development problems, was reassigned to the Crew-5 mission with the Dragon. He’s on his first space mission.
Anna Yuryevna Kikina. Born on August 27, 1984, in Novosibirsk, in the then USSR and today in Russia, she graduated in hydraulic engineering from the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transport in 2006 and in economics and management in 2008. She was selected as a cosmonaut candidate in 2012. She was assigned to a launch on a Soyuz spacecraft but following a crew exchange between NASA and Roscosmos, she was reassigned to the Crew-5 mission with the Dragon. She’s on her first space mission.
On Thursday, at approximately 14.57 UTC, the Crew Dragon Endurance will reach the International Space Station and dock directly with the Harmony module. Despite strong tensions between the USA and Russia, cosmonaut Anna Kikina regularly started her mission on an American spacecraft. Winds of war seem to be getting stronger in various areas of the world but there’s still collaboration on the Station.
