NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission is made up of two U.S. astronauts, one from Japan and a Russian cosmonaut. They’ll be aboard the International Space Station for six months conducting research.
An international crew of four launched into orbit just before noon Friday from Florida on NASA’s Crew-11, a six-month mission to the International Space Station.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket roared to life on Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A, lofting the company’s Dragon capsule and crew on a nine-minute trip from the Earth’s surface into orbit.
The capsule is carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
It will take the crew about 15 hours to reach the ISS, with a docking planned Saturday around 3 a.m. ET. Once there, they’ll remain aboard the station for about six months, living and working on the orbiting lab, conducting dozens of science experiments.
Those include studying plant cell division and microgravity’s effects on bacterial-killing viruses. They’ll also perform experiments to produce a «higher volume of human stem cells and general on-demand nutrients.
