The Crew-3 mission will launch ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer as mission specialist alongside NASA astronauts Raja Chari as mission commander, Tom Marshburn as pilot, and Kayla Barron as mission specialist aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew is scheduled for a long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, living and working as part of what is expected to be a seven-member crew.
Crew-3 astronauts plan to arrive at the Station to overlap with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, who flew to the Station as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission in April 2021.
Mission teams also are targeting no earlier than 15 April, 2022, for the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the Space Sstation for a six-month science mission aboard the microgravity laboratory. This crew includes ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti as mission specialist as well as NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren in command and Bob Hines as pilot. Samantha will also serve as International Space Station commander for the ISS Expedition 68a crew.
One remaining member of Crew-4 is yet to be announced. Crew-3 astronauts are set to return to Earth in late April 2022 following a similar handover with Crew-4.
Stay tuned to this blog for further updates on the missions of all European astronauts.