SpaceX's Crew 11 to space station named: 2 from NASA, plus Russia, Japan
March 28 (UPI) -- NASA on Friday announced the four crew members of Crew-11 who will be part of Space X's next trip to the International Space Station no earlier than July from Florida.
The crew will include NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, the commander, and pilot Mike Fincke, as well as two mission specialists: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Cardman was one of two astronauts reassigned from Crew-9 after their seats were used to bring Boeing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth on March 18 along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Wilmore and Williams were aboard the initial Boeing Starliner that launched in June 2024. Because of problems with the capsule after docking at ISS, it went back to Earth uncrewed and they were assigned to a SpaceX return flight.
Crew-10 launched on March 14 with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to relieve the Crew-9 members.
The latest mission will be the 11th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
The missions launch from Kennedy Space Center.
"They will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth," NASA said in a news release.
The space station has been in operation since November 2000 and is scheduled to be deorbited at the end of 2030. Aside from SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, space shuttles and Russia's Soyuz took crew members to the space station.
Cardman, 37, was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, and will participate in her first spaceflight, including her initial spacewalk. At the time of selection, she had begun pursuing a doctorate in geosciences at Penn State.
Fincke, 58, originally was scheduled to fly aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 in March 2024. He has logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during ISS Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008 and Space Transportation System 134 in 2011, which was the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour.
Fincke, who became an astronaut in 1996, is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
Yui, 54, will participate in his second trip to the space station after 142 days in space. He was selected as a JAXA astronaut in 2009.
Platonov, 38, will be on his first spaceflight since his selection in 2018 by Roscosmos He became a test cosmonaut in 2021.
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