NASA the biggest space exploration administration, otherwise known as The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has teamed up with Tesla owner Elon Musks SpaceX operation to launch the second set of Commercial Crew Rotation Mission to the ISS otherwise known as the International Space Station.

The new mission with SpaceX and NASA will carry Crew-2 with astronauts Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA and finally Thomas Pesquet of the ESA the European Space Agency. They will be aboard the Cre Dragon spacecraft launching from the Falcom 9 rocket on their way to the International Space Station.

The mission is scheduled for no later than April the 20th from the launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, which is owned by NASA. The crew is being prepared for a long haul stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, they will spend several months there, and will conduct scientific and maintenance projects and research, before they return in the fall of 2021, later this year.

The creation of Crew Dragon was the final demonstration after NASA completed the certification of the Crew Dragon system just before the Crew-1 team mission and astronauts went up. All of the four Crew Dragon astronauts were assigned to the mission in July of 2020 and began their training immediately for their long-duration stay in the international space station (ISS).

Crew Dragon will leave from Launch Pad 39A and travel almost 17,500 mph towards the international space station, which circles the earth. The end of the mission should end with Crew Dragon undocking with all four astronauts on the International Space Station, and then after their stay, they should safely re-enter the earths atmosphere so that they can return to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. We wish them a safe journey.

By I. Bey