SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft Arrives at Cape Canaveral Ahead of Halloween Day Rocket Launch
By Space Coast Daily // October 26, 2021
Launch set for Halloween day at 2:21 a.m. ET
BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will carry NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer to the International Space Station is now at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
The capsule, named Endurance by the crew, arrived at the launch complex on Oct. 24 after making the short journey from its nearby processing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Liftoff of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 2:21 a.m. EDT on Oct. 31 from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. Chari, Marshburn, Barron, and Maurer will arrive at the space station the following day, Nov.1, for a six-month science mission.
The Crew-3 astronauts will have a short overlap with the astronauts who flew to the station as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission.
Return of NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, is planned for early November.
A splashdown at one of seven landing zones off the coast of Florida will mark the completion of the Crew-2 mission.
