SpaceX Crew-6 – Wikipedia

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2023 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS

SpaceX Crew-6
Names USCV-6
Mission type ISS crew transport
Operator SpaceX
COSPAR ID 2023-027A
SATCAT no. 55740
Mission duration 180 days (planned) 24 days, 19 hours and 42 minutes (in progress)
Spacecraft Crew Dragon Endeavour[1]
Spacecraft type Crew Dragon
Manufacturer SpaceX
Launch mass 12,519 kg (27,600 lb)
Landing mass 9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew size 4
Members Andrey Fedyaev
Launch date 2 March 2023, 05:34:14 UTC[2][3][4]
Rocket Falcon 9 Block 5 B1078.1
Launch site Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Contractor SpaceX
Landing date Fall 2023 (planned)
Landing site Atlantic Ocean
Reference system Geocentric orbit
Regime Low Earth orbit
Inclination 51.66°
Docking port Harmony zenith
Docking date 3 March 2023, 06:40 UTC
Undocking date Q3 2023 (planned)
Time docked 180 days (planned) 23 days, 18 hours and 36 minutes (in progress)

SpaceX Crew-6 mission patch

(L-R) Al Neyadi, Hoburg, Bowen and Fedyaev. 

SpaceX Crew-6 is the sixth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the ninth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission launched on 2 March 2023 at 05:34:14 UTC, and it successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) on 3 March 2023 at 06:40 UTC. The Crew-6 mission transported four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut were assigned to the mission. The two NASA astronauts are Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg.[5] The cosmonaut, Andrey Fedyaev, was reassigned from Soyuz MS-23. Sultan Al Neyadi is heading the Emirates’ mission on the flight.

On 24 March 2022 the European Space Agency announced that Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen will serve as backup pilot.[6] On 29 April 2022, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and Axiom Space announced that Crew-6 will also include an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.[7]

MBRSC participation in this mission is a by product of a 2021 agreement between NASA and Axiom to fly a NASA astronaut, Mark T. Vande Hei, onboard Soyuz MS-18 (launch) and Soyuz MS-19 (return) in order to ensure a continuing American presence onboard the ISS. In return, Axiom received the rights to a NASA owned seat onboard SpaceX Crew-6. Axiom provided the flight opportunity to MBRSC professional crew member through an agreement with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency.[8] Later the astronaut was confirmed to be Sultan Al Neyadi.[9]Andrey Fedyaev was selected in July 2022 for this mission as a part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system of keeping at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions.[10] This ensures both countries have a presence on the station, and the ability to maintain their separate systems if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period.[11]

Mission[edit]

The sixth SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) was launched on 2 March 2023 and is planned to last approximately six months. The mission was scheduled to launch early on 27 February 2023. However, the initial attempt was scrubbed and rescheduled for 2 March 2023, at 5:34 am UTC.[2][3][4] The second launch attempt was successful.

Alongside Crew-6, the space capsule is designed to bring back the Soyuz MS-22 crew, serving as an emergency evacuation after Crew-5 along with Soyuz MS-23.[13]

Crew Dragon Endeavour lifts off from LC-39A with the Crew-6 astronauts on board.

Launch attempt[edit]

The first launch attempt was scrubbed at T−02:12 minutes due to an issue with the TEA-TEB spontaneous ignition fluid.[14] (times are UTC)

Attempt Planned Result Turnaround Reason Decision point Weather go (%) Notes
1 27 Feb 2023, 6:45:03 am Scrubbed — TEA-TEB ignitor issue 27 Feb 2023, 6:43 am ​(T-00:02:12) 95[15] Rocket launch failure risk (wrong ignition or premature engine cutoff)
2 2 Mar 2023, 5:34:14 am Success 2 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes 95[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cawley, James (3 November 2022). “NASA Updates Commercial Crew Flight Manifest to Space Station”. NASA. Retrieved 5 November 2022. The Crew-6 mission will be Dragon Endeavour’s fourth flight to the space station
  2. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (13 January 2023). “Launch Schedule”. Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b Cawley, James (27 February 2023). “NASA, SpaceX Look to March 2 for Next Available Crew-6 Launch Attempt”. NASA. Retrieved 27 February 2023. … NASA and SpaceX will forgo a launch opportunity on Tuesday, Feb. 28, due to unfavorable weather forecast conditions. The next available launch attempt is at 12:34 a.m. EST Thursday, March 2, pending resolution of the technical issue preventing Monday’s launch. …
  4. ^ a b Wall, Mike (27 February 2023). “SpaceX scrubs Crew-6 astronaut launch due to ignition-fluid issue”. Space.com. Retrieved 27 February 2023. … The next launch opportunity comes on Thursday (March 2) at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT); weather on Tuesday (Feb. 28), the first possible opportunity before that, is not favorable for launch …
  5. ^ Potter, Sean (16 December 2021). “Two Astronauts Receive Assignments for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Mission”. NASA. Retrieved 17 December 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ Human Spaceflight [@esaspaceflight] (24 March 2022). “@YannickJungman3 @Astro_Andreas @Space_Station @SpaceX @esa @UFM_MIN @DTUtweet @AschbacherJosef Pilot for Crew-7, and backup pilot for Crew-6. More in the article here: t.co/LZhraeIRA7” (Tweet). Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ “Emirati astronaut set for six-month mission to International Space Station”. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  8. ^ “Axiom Space and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center Sign Agreement for UAE Astronaut to Fly on the ISS in 2023”. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  9. ^ “UAE’s Sultan Al Neyadi to be first Arab astronaut to spend 6 months on ISS”. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  10. ^ Wattles, Jackie; Pavlova, Uliana (15 July 2022). “SpaceX rockets to fly Russian cosmonauts with new NASA deal”. CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved 16 July 2022. Andrei Fedyaev will fly on another SpaceX mission in the spring of 2023, according to NASA.
  11. ^ “Rogozin says Crew Dragon safe for Russian cosmonauts”. SpaceNews. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  12. ^ “UAE’s first astronaut to serve as backup on Sultan Al Neyadi’s 6-month mission to ISS”. Zawya. 25 September 2022.
  13. ^ Expedition 68 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Leaders Discuss Mission – Jan. 25, 2023. NASA Video. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ “Shortly before liftoff, SpaceX cancels a crew launch due to igniter issues – Ars Technica”. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  15. ^ NASA Commercial Crew [@Commercial_Crew] (27 February 2023). “Weather officials with the Cape Canaveral @SpaceForceDoD 45th Weather Squadron continue to predict a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch” (Tweet). Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ SpaceX [@SpaceX] (1 March 2023). “Weather is 95% favorable for liftoff, but teams are keeping an eye on weather along Dragon’s ascent corridor” (Tweet). Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Twitter.