SpaceX describes surgical intervention before launch of latest crew mission
With Crew-13, Jessica Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a mission into space.
With Crew-13, Jessica Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a mission into space.
The short version
- A four-person crew rocketed into orbit Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, heading for a six-month expedition on the International Space Station.
- Riding a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, the four crew members departed from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral at 11:10 am EDT (15:10 UTC) Thursday.
- Nine minutes later, they were in orbit to begin closing in on the space station for docking Thursday evening.
What happened
The launch was delayed from mid-September to replace a balky valve in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system, a task that involved cutting into a propellant line inside the ship to swap out a faulty component. Jessica Watkins, a 38-year-old geologist turned astronaut, leads the four-person crew sent into orbit Thursday, becoming the first Black woman to command a spacecraft.
Why it matters
Watkins is the only veteran astronaut on the mission —designated Crew-13 —after spending 170 days in orbit on a long-duration spaceflight in 2022.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.