NASA assigned an international crew to launch on SpaceX's next mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-6 mission will be the sixth operational Commercial Crew Program launch to the orbiting laboratory. Crew-6 crewmembers are: NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, along with United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

The Crew-6 Mission Commander is Bowen, who has visited space three times since 2008. The rest are rookie astronauts, it will be the first spaceflight for Hoburg, AlNeyandi, and Fedyaev. NASA astronaut Hoburg will serve as Dragon Endeavour pilot, and the rest as mission specialists. 

Diplomacy between the United States’ NASA agency and Russia’s Roscosmos Space Agency continues despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. NASA and Roscosmos established a barter deal in December 2021, before the war escalated, to launch American astronauts aboard Soyuz and Russian cosmonauts aboard American-made spacecraft to maintain peace and collaboration at the ISS. Currently, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina is at the Space Station as part of SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission, she is the first Russian to ever ride the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Crew-5 crew members are expected to return around a week after Crew-6 arrives at the ISS. 

The Crew-6 mission is scheduled to lift off sometime in February 2023. The crew will launch atop the previously-flown Dragon Endeavour spacecraft from historic Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be Endeavour’s fourth flight to the ISS. The capsule previously supported three crewed missions, including: Demo-2, Crew-2, and Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) – the spacecraft will be SpaceX’s most reused Crew Dragon.

Crew-6 will spend approximately six months working at the Space Station, while Dragon remains docked to the Harmony module. The astronauts are tasked with conducting dozens of scientific experiments from a variety of organizations. The results of the research will help scientists on Earth create new medical treatments and innovative technology that benefits life on Earth and future life in space. 

》 Author's note: Thanks for reading Tesmanian.com. If you have any story suggestions or feedback, feel free to Direct Message me on Twitter: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve Or write your thoughts in the comment section below. Read my most recent stories here: Recent News Stories 《  

NASA assigns an International crew for SpaceX's Crew-6 mission to the Space Station, including a Russian & United Arab Emirates astronaut

by @JaneidyEve via @Tesmanian_com https://t.co/LDC94dPsW0

— Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo (@JaneidyEve) December 30, 2022

Featured Image Source: SpaceX & NASA