NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission is set to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday after being delayed due to poor weather conditions.
On Monday, the agency said that the launch readiness review is complete.
Liftoff is targeted for noon Eastern Time from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch.
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The Dragon spacecraft, Endurance, is scheduled to dock at the space station at 4:57 p.m. ET on Thursday.
This is the fifth crew rotation mission with astronauts using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Endurance will accelerate its four passengers, NASA astronauts mission commander Nicole Mann and pilot Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Waka and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, to approximately 17,500 mph. This will be Mann and Cassada’s first spaceflight since becoming astronauts in 2013.
Mann will be the first Native American woman in space. Kikina will also be making her first trip to space, and the mission marks the fifth spaceflight for Wakata.
The four crewmates will dock Dragon Endurance to the forward port on the station’s Harmony module.
They will spend up to six months at the space station, performing science, tech demonstrations and maintenance activities, before returning to Earth.
The astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida several days after their arrival.
The launch has shifted a few times before the latest delay caused by Hurricane Ian.
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