LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Saturday, Nov. 14, NASA, in collaboration with SpaceX, will launch what is known as Crew-1, the first fully crewed and operational commercial mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Three American astronauts and one member of Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency will journey to the International Space Station for a 6-month mission. The crew includes astronauts commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Shannon Walker along with Soichi Noguchi from Japan.
Nicole Jordan, the NASA Mission Manager for the Commercial Crew Program, said the program is launching a "new era in human space flight."
"Our program is really paving the way to show new models of how to do human space flight," she said. Jordan said NASA will have oversight, but the mission will primarily be in the hands of the SpaceX team.
Jordan said the crew will begin work the moment they arrive at the ISS.
"They will be working on over 200 scientific experiments, including growing radishes,' she said. The astronauts will also conduct spacewalks and will be present when the newly-designed Dragon Cargo Capsule launches and docks at the ISS.
The Crew Dragon Capsule is set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 7:49 p.m. EST. The launch has been given a 70% chance for favorable conditions at liftoff.
The mission itself will take approximately 8.5 hours from Florida to the International Space Station. Fun fact: That is just under the amount of time it would take you to travel by plane from Louisville to Honolulu, Hawaii.
NASA will live stream the event from liftoff to docking on their social media pages. They will also have programming throughout the day leading up to the launch.
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