NASA, SpaceX set sight on Saturday launch of Crew-7 to International Space Station

NASA and SpaceX are all set to re-attempt sending the next crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The mission which has been dubbed Crew-7 will be launched on Saturday. Here's all you need to know about it.

Crew 7

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The crew-7 mission will include four astronauts: Jasmin Moghbeli from the USA who will command the mission, Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Konstantin Borisov of Russia.

Lift-off as per the news agency report is planned for Saturday (August 26th), at 3:27 am (07:27 GMT) from Florida's NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. Sunday (August 27th) has been designated as the backup opportunity.

Crew-7 isthe seventh routine mission to the International Space Station for Elon Musk's SpaceX. The first mission happened back in 2020.

The crew members will join seven colleagues who are aboard the ISS. After a few days, the previous occupants, who reached the orbital platform with Crew-6 mission, will leave for Earth.

Experiments in Space

The crew will spend six months aboard theorbital platform, and will carry out science experiments. Among theseexperiments is one which will have themcollecting samples during a spacewalk.

This, as per AFP, will help determine whether the ISS releases microorganisms through its life support system vents, and will help scientists understand if these microorganisms can survive and reproduce in space.

Another important experiment the ISS crew will undertake includes the assessment of physiological differences between sleep on Earth and in space.

Borisov, who will be embarking on his first ever space mission, said: "I'm looking forward to coping with all the tasks. This is a very interesting profession: you are preparing for something that you haven't tried yet, and you really want to do it well."

This is also Moghbeli's first space mission. During a media call last month, the American astronaut said, "This is something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember."

"One of the things I'm most excited about is looking back at our beautiful planet," she said, adding, "Everyone who I've talked to who has flown already has said that was a life-changing perspective -- and also floating around in space, it seems really fun."

(With inputs from agencies)

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