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By Josh Dinner, Space.com
The Crew Dragon Endurance is scheduled to dock to the space station at 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT) on Sunday (Aug. 27).
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched a diverse international crew of astronauts toward the International Space Station early this morning (Aug. 26).
The four astronauts of the Crew-7 mission lifted off atop a brand-new SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 3:27 a.m. EDT (0727 GMT).
The Crew-7 quartet will ride on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endurance to the International Space Station (ISS), a journey that will take nearly 30 hours. Once they get to the orbital lab on Sunday morning (Aug. 27), the astronauts will begin a six-month stint of science investigations and station maintenance as part of Expeditions 69 and 70.
“SpaceX, thanks for the ride. It was awesome,” Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli told SpaceX launch control. “We may have four crewmembers on board from four different nations, Denmark, Japan, Russia and the United States, but we’re a united team with a common mission.”
The Falcon 9’s first stage shut down and separated from the upper stage approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the launch today.
The booster then performed a boost-back engine burn for a return to Earth, which it ultimately achieved: The Falcon 9’s first stage touched down about 7.5 minutes after liftoff at SpaceX’s Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to KSC.
Read the full article here: https://www.space.com/spacex-nasa-crew-7-launch-international-space-station
