NASA and partners launch new ISS research mission
Four astronauts from the United States, Japan, and Russia will spend at least six months in orbit as part of a new international scientific mission.
The four members of the NASA Crew-11 team were successfully launched into space from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. During their mission, the astronauts will simulate lunar landing scenarios and test how gravity affects their ability to pilot spacecraft.
The crew reached the International Space Station (ISS) in just 15 hours. The team is made up of two American astronauts, Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke; Japan’s Kimiya Yui; and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov from the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Their arrival temporarily increased the number of people on the ISS to 11. The newcomers were greeted with cold drinks and warm food, prepared by their colleagues who were already in orbit.
“Everybody on the ground from the International Space Station and Endeavour crew. Welcome on board. We are so happy and excited to see your smiling faces. Zena, Oleg, congratulations on your first spaceflight,” says the International Space Station commander.
"It has truly been the journey of a lifetime. We are extremely grateful to be here. Thank you so much for this warm welcome. It was an incredibly beautiful sight to see the Space Station enter our field of view for the first time,” says astronaut Zena Cardman.
“We have a great crew, 11 members, and also the members of this expedition. I can’t wait to work with them to make Expedition 73 the best it can be,” says astronaut Kimiya Yui.
As part of the mission, the astronauts will simulate descent maneuvers that could be used near the lunar south pole for the Artemis program. They will also analyze how gravity affects the ability to pilot spacecraft, including future landing modules.
They also brought pomegranates from Armenia, which will be compared to a batch left on Earth to study the influence of microgravity on plants.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
