ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and his NASA crew mates Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron are now expected to leave Earth no earlier than 31 October 2021.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Aki Hoshide are targeting early-to-mid November for their return to Earth.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and his SpaceX Crew-2 crew mates. Credit: SpaceX
Both Crew-2 and Crew-3 are travelling to and from the Station in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Crew-2 arrived at the Station on 24 April 2021, with Thomas Pesquet becoming the first European to fly on a Crew Dragon. Before Crew-3 depart the Station, they will have a short handover period with the Crew-2 astronauts and other crew members of Expedition 66 on board.
After Crew-3, the next crew rotation is targeted for no earlier than mid-April 2022. The partner spacecraft and launch vehicle for this rotation will determined at a later date.