SpaceX is preparing to send four astronauts to the International Space Station

Friday, April 23 at 11:49 AM KST – 5:49 AM Local Time – All eyes will be on Florida and especially Cape Canaveral, from where NASA and SpaceX humans will depart for the airport. International Space Station (ISS).

It had to be postponed as it was originally scheduled for Thursday “Adverse Weather”. This time, the American space agency “Predicts 90% probability of favorable weather conditions” To depart. According to her, the weather should be too “Upgrade” On the track. In the context of man-made aircraft, this data is necessary to allow “Possible recovery of the team” On departure, NASA executive Steve Zurzik explained to reporters in the Middle Ages.

This is SpaceX’s second mission to the International Space Station since the United States relaunched human spacecraft. This is the first mission with a European on board: Thomas Basquet, 43, of France.

Also known as the Crew-2, the expedition includes two American astronauts, Shane Kimbero and Megan McArthur, and Japanese Akihiko Hoshaid. They were all already in space.

“It hurts”

The French astronaut said he was looking forward to a second shelter “More difficult” More than the first, in 2016. “Not physically, because at this point (…) I have the feeling that I am in the best shape of my life, on the other hand mentally”, He said at a virtual press conference from Cape Canaveral.

“The first time, we’re going on an adventure, we do not know what will be difficult. The second time, you know what you’ve expressing, like when you run a marathon, you know it’s going to hurt.”

Thomas Pesket was the first Frenchman to take control of the station, like a football field, for a month at the end of his six-month journey. With about a hundred tests to be carried out in this vast weightless laboratory, the shelter is guaranteed to be intensive.

Co-op of eleven people at the resort

The Crew-2 uses a previously used thruster and capsule, which is NASA’s main storage. The latter wants to reuse rocket thrusters at least five times for manned aircraft.

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has positioned itself with NASA for space transport at a time when Boeing’s Starliner capsule is accumulating delays in its test flights. Both companies have multi-million dollar deals with the US space agency.

May 2020 success of Crew-1, SpaceX’s first unmanned test aircraft broke the Russian monopoly on aircraft to the ISS, returning to the Americans the ability to accomplish this feat at the end of the space shuttle program. «Spacecraft In 2011.

All four astronauts will be with the Crew-1 team for a few days, before the latter return from its six-month voyage. With three Russians on board, the station is unusually full, with no less than eleven people on board.