SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket carrying astronauts from US, Russia, and Japan

News October 6, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space for NASA’s Crew-5 mission on October 5, 2022. The rocket was carrying a long-term International Space Station (ISS) crew of four astronauts.

The astronauts onboard the Crew-5 mission includes two American, one Russian, and one Japanese. Despite the ongoing Ukraine war and increasing tensions between Russia and the U.S., both sides continue to demonstrate strong cooperation on affairs related to the International Space Station.

The Crew-5 launch was orchestrated by NASA in order to bring the group of astronauts aboard the ISS for a six-month-long rotation period. The Crew-5 space mission marks the eighth human spaceflight for SpaceX and it is the fifth time that NASA has to acquire services from Elon Musk’s company to send astronauts into space.

“That was a smooth ride uphill,” said Nicole Mann, who is the acting commander of the Crew-5 mission. The Crew-5 began its 29-hour long journey from the Launch Complex 39-A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX assigned its Falcon 9 rocket to this mission that was carrying a Dragon Endurance spacecraft to be launched into orbit.

The Dragon spacecraft would dock autonomously at the space-facing port at the ISS on October 6, 2022, at around 4:57 P.M. (GMT -4). The team will be welcomed by seven existing ISS astronauts including three American, two Italian, and two Russian astronauts.

Crew-5 is go for launch pic.twitter.com/gfVxhtLrdC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 5, 2022

The Crew-5 mission notably includes Anna Kikina, a 38-year-old lone female cosmonaut on active duty with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. This is the first space flight for Russian astronauts from U.S. soil in almost two decades.

NASA and Roscosmos agreed to continue their cooperation despite the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West. A high-ranking official from the Russian space agency said that the Crew-5 mission marks “a new phase of our cooperation” with the U.S. space agency NASA.

About nine minutes after the launch, Falcon 9 rocket released the Dragon Endurance spacecraft into the preliminary orbit as it flew at the speed of 16000 mph. The reusable lower half of the Falcon 9 rocket flew back to earth and landed safely on a floating recovery dock in the sea.

The International Space Station, an orbiting outpost about the length of a football field, is being jointly operated by U.S. and Russian-led consortium since 2000. It also includes space agencies from Canada, Japan, and 11 European countries. There have been several speculations about NASA and Roscosmo’s deteriorating relations since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and the United States imposed sweeping sanctions against Moscow.

*^{Falcon 9 launches Dragon’s eighth human spaceflight. (Image Credit: SpaceX/Twitter)}*

Russian space chief Yuri Borisov announced in July this year that his country plans pull out from the International Space Station to focus on building its own space outpost. According to Yuri, Russian astronauts would be called back from the ISS after completing their obligated missions by 2024, however, until then, NASA and Roscosmos plan to work together irrespective of the political tensions between the two countries.