. 24/7 Space News .
ROCKET SCIENCE
NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 15, 2020

file illustration only

NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have selected three astronauts to serve as crew members for NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which is expected to launch in the fall of 2021.

The trio will consist of NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, who will serve as commander and pilot, respectively, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who will serve as a mission specialist. A fourth crew member will be added at a later date, following a review by NASA and its international partners.

This will be the first spaceflight for Chari, who became a NASA astronaut in 2017. He was born in Milwaukee, but considers Cedar Falls, Iowa, his hometown. He is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and joins the mission with extensive experience as a test pilot. He has accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time in his career. Chari was selected earlier this month as a member of the Artemis Team and is now eligible for assignment to a future lunar mission.

Marshburn is a Statesville, North Carolina, native who became an astronaut in 2004. Prior to serving in the astronaut corps, the medical doctor served as flight surgeon at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and later became medical operations lead for the International Space Station. The Crew-3 mission will be his third visit to the space station and his second long-duration mission. Marshburn previously served as a crew member of STS-127 in 2009 and Expedition 34/35, which concluded in 2013.

Maurer comes from Sankt Wendel, in the German state of Saarland. Like Chari, Maurer will be making his first trip to space with the Crew-3 mission. Before becoming an astronaut, Maurer held a number of engineering and research roles, both in a university setting and at ESA. In 2016, Maurer spent 16 days on an undersea mission as part of a NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, space analog.

When Chari, Marshburn, and Maurer arrive at the orbiting laboratory, they will become expedition crew members for the duration of their six-month stay. The crew will have a slight overlap with the Crew-2 astronauts, who are expected to launch in the spring of 2021.

This will not be the first commercial crew mission to overlap. The Crew-1 astronauts, who are currently on station, and the Crew-2 astronauts, also are expected to coincide in their sojourns for a short time. Increasing the total number of astronauts aboard the station is allowing the agency to boost the number of science investigations conducted in the unique microgravity environment.

This will be the third crew rotation mission of SpaceX's human space transportation system and its fourth flight with astronauts, including the Demo-2 test flight, to the space station through NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective crew access to the space station and low-Earth orbit in partnership with American aerospace industry. NASA's contract with SpaceX is for six total crew missions to the orbiting laboratory. Commercial transportation to and from the station will provide expanded utility, additional research time, and broader opportunities for discovery on the orbital outpost.

For more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 242 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.

The station is a critical test bed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight. As commercial companies focus on providing human transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA is free to focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.


Related Links
Commercial Crew at NASA
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


ROCKET SCIENCE
Indonesia wants to lure SpaceX to build rocket launch site
Jakarta (AFP) Dec 14, 2020
Indonesia has invited Tesla boss Elon Musk to build a launch site for his SpaceX's rocket in the Southeast Asian country, pointing out the benefits of a location next to the equator, officials said. "Indonesia has several areas located near to the equator," Jodi Mahardi, spokesman of Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry, told AFP on Monday. "The cost of SpaceX's rocket launch will be lower because its satellite won't need any manoeuvring to adjust its orbit to the equator," he a ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ROCKET SCIENCE
Fertilizer made from urine could enable space agriculture

Spinoff highlights NASA technology paying dividends in US economy

Hibernating lemurs may be the key to cryogenic sleep for human space travel

NASA and Boeing target new launch date for next Starliner flight test

ROCKET SCIENCE
SpaceX launches satellite for SiriusXM from Florida

Haiyang helps assemble Long March 11 carrier rocket

Elon Musk's SpaceX in funding talks as it seeks to double valuation to $92B

NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station

ROCKET SCIENCE
From NASA JPL's Mailroom to Mars and Beyond

Powerful electrical events quickly alter surface chemistry on Mars

Ice-Rich flow features in Martian southern hemisphere reveal effects of recent climate cycles

China's Mars probe 100m km from Earth

ROCKET SCIENCE
China plans to launch new space science satellites

How it took decades for space program to take off

China to Begin Construction of Its Space Station Next Year

Moon mission tasked with number of firsts for China

ROCKET SCIENCE
Arianespace to launch next OneWeb batch from Vostochny Cosmodrome

Governments maintain firm financial commitment to space during 2020

NASA awards prizes to six startup companies in Entrepreneur's Challenge

Turksat 5A satellite to 'secure' Turkey's orbital rights

ROCKET SCIENCE
MIT to use the ISS to test smart, electronic textiles for use in spacesuits and spacecraft

Unibap becomes a member of AWS Partner Network for SpaceCloud

NASA releases best practices handbook to help improve space safety

Microchip adds COTS 64Mbit flash memory device to its radiation-tolerant lineup

ROCKET SCIENCE
Scientists discover compounds that could have helped to start life on Earth

Hubble identifies strange exoplanet that behaves like a "Planet Nine"

Device mimics life's first steps in outer space

Research identifies Earth's extreme environments as best places for life to grow

ROCKET SCIENCE
Dark Storm on Neptune reverses direction, possibly shedding a fragment

The 'Great' Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Updates Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery

Swedish space instrument participates in the search for life around Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.