The four astronauts of the Crew-3 mission took off for the International Space Station – franceinfo

Take off for a six-month mission in space. Three American astronauts and a German took off on Wednesday, November 10, towards the International Space Station (ISS). The crew of Crew-3 must replace that of Crew-2, which included Thomas Pesquet, returned to Earth overnight from Monday to Tuesday. American astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn, as well as German spaceaut Matthias Maurer have left since Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, at 9:03 p.m. local time. Their Dragon capsule must then dock with the ISS overnight from Thursday to Friday.

# Crew3… 2 … 1 … and liftoff!

Three @NASA_Astronauts and one @ESA astronaut are on their way to the @Space_Station aboard the @SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance: pic.twitter.com/dxobsFb4Pa

– NASA (@NASA) November 11, 2021

NASA astronauts and the European Space Agency astronaut were initially due to leave at the end of October but take-off was delayed several times, in particular because of the weather, then a “minor health problem” on which NASA did not provide more details. The American space agency therefore decided to bring the crew of Crew-2 back to Earth before taking off Crew-3. The handover period, which normally takes place in zero gravity for a few days, could not therefore take place.

The mission will include many experiences. One of them aims to observe the effects of diet on the intestinal flora and the immune system of astronauts, their defenses often being weakened by a prolonged stay in space. Crew-3 astronauts will also carry out spacewalks, in particular to continue installing new solar panels on the ISS.