The Crew Dragon Freedom capsule, of the Crew-4 mission, with the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency ( ESA ) on board has begun its journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
Approximately 12 minutes after departure from Kennedy Space Center platform 39A, the last stage of the Falcon 9 rocket released the capsule which will now continue the ISS "pursuit" journey. All approach and docking maneuvers will be fully automated and should be completed. with the docking scheduled tonight at 2:15 am Italian time .
The journey of “Astrosamantha” to reach the Space Station will last at least 16 hours and everything will be managed autonomously by the computers of the Crew Dragon capsule, but if necessary the astronauts will be able to take control of it at any time. The launch also marked a new successful return of the first stage, in its fourth use, which after having pushed the rocket in the first few minutes completed a controlled descent, resting on a floating platform called "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean. .
The docking maneuvers to the Harmony module are expected to be completed tonight at 2:15 am Italian time, while the hatch is scheduled to open around 3:45 am .
The seven crew members of the ISS will welcome the four astronauts of the Crew Dragon, including Samantha Cristoforetti's colleague Esa, Matthias Maurer , launched in November 2021 with Crew-3 and which will soon return to Earth after 6 months in orbit .
Once on the Iss Cristoforetti the Minerva mission will begin and will have the role of leader of the American orbital segment, that is, the set of US, European and Canadian modules and components of the Station.
The Italian astronaut will work on numerous scientific experiments and will help complete the installation, including with extravehicular activities (Eva), of the 11-meter long European Robotic Arm (Era) which will be used to move loads around the Russian section of the ISS.
