SpaceX Crew-4 is next in line for trip to ISS
Early Wednesday, the four astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will finally get their chance to blast off to the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins will be joined by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti as they embark on NASA’s next long-duration mission.
Barring any more delays, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will send a new Crew Dragon capsule and its four crew members on their way to the ISS during an instantaneous launch window at 3:52 a.m. EDT on Wednesday from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
If for any reason the liftoff does not occur exactly on time, the crew will have to wait at least another 24 hours for their chance to reach space.
Meet the crew members
The crew arrived in Florida aboard a NASA-owned jet on April 18 and have since been in quarantine continuing to prepare for their flight.
“We’re just incredibly grateful for this opportunity to be a part of a larger team that includes Kennedy Space Center, all the space centers here in the U.S., our commercial partners, and our international partners,” said Lindgren, the Crew-4 Mission Commander. “(We are the) part of the team that gets to go up to the space station and conduct the science and research to improve life here on earth and to extend our presence in the solar system.”
The science mission is expected to last six months aboard the ISS and will be a second-time journey for Lindgren and Cristoforetti and a first-time experience for Hines and Watkins.
Lindgren was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2009 and launched to space in 2015 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule bound for the ISS. He has spent 141 days in space and has two spacewalks under his belt.
“We feel prepared, we are confident in our skills, and we’re excited to fly and to put those skills to work,” Lindgren said.
Hines was selected by NASA for astronaut training in 2017. He served as a pilot for more than 21 years in the Air Force. Before applying to be an astronaut, he was a research pilot at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
In a premission media event, he said that the families that get left behind are the true superstars of any long-duration mission to space.
“We are all grateful for the sacrifices that our families make for us to be able to go do this incredible adventure,” he said.
He has three daughters with his wife, Kelli. “I’m going to incredibly miss my family while we’re gone,” he said.
Watkins is part of the same 2017 astronaut class as Hines. Watkins has a doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she collaborated as a member of the science team for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity.
“We are super, super pumped to get up there and get to have this once-in-alifetime experience,” Watkins said. “To be able to look down on our home, from our perch up on orbit, it’s just going to be super awesome.”
Cristoforetti is from Milan. After serving in the Italian Air Force, she joined the European Space Agency representing Italy in 2009.
In 2014 she logged 200 days in space after launching to the ISS as a flight engineer on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
New ride to space
Together, the members of Crew-4 decided to name their new SpaceX Crew Dragon ride to space, “Freedom.”
“The name celebrates a fundamental human right, and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unencumbered human spirit,” said Lindgren in a Twitter post.