SpaceX Successfully Launchs Crew Expenditure Mission To ISS, Don't Forget To Give Five Stars

SpaceX, launched a mission of four crew members into space to the International Space Station (ISS) (photo: twitter @spacex)

JAKARTA - SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket company, launched a mission of four crew members into space to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, March 2 in the early hours of local time. In this mission, a Russian cosmonaut and an Emirates Arab astronaut joined NASA's two crew members to fly to the ISS.

The SpaceX launch vehicle consists of a Falcon 9 rocket equipped with an autonomous Crew Dragon capsule called Endeavor. The rocket took off at 12:34 a.m. local time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA's live broadcast shows a 25-story spacecraft rising from the launch tower as nine of its engines vibrate and eject a cloud of vapor and a reddish fireball that illuminates the sky before dawn.

Falcon 9’s first stage booster has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/aTsxNo2cJN

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 2, 2023

The launch came 72 hours after an initial launch attempt was canceled in the last minute counting down on Monday morning 27 March due to a blockade in the engine's fluid flow. NASA said the problem had been fixed by replacing the clogged filter and clearing the system.

About nine minutes after launch on Thursday, the top stage of the rocket gave Crew Dragon into temporary orbit as it flew through space at a speed of more than 20 times the speed of sound. Meanwhile, a reusable Falcon booster flew back to Earth and landed safely on a recovery ship called "Just Read the Instructions," which is floating in the Atlantic.

Moments after the capsule reaches orbit, a SpaceX mission control manager heard jokingly sending the crew the radio: "If you're enjoying your trip, don't forget to give us five stars." The crew commander, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, replied, "We would like to thank you for the great journey into orbit today," he said.

The trip to the ISS is expected to last nearly 25 hours, with plans for a meeting around 1:15 a.m. local time on Friday, March 3. The crew's six-month science mission will include about 200 experiments and technological demonstrations, ranging from human cell growth research in space to controlling flammable fuel in microgravity.

The Crew 6 mission marks the sixth long-term ISS team NASA has flown over SpaceX since a private rocket venture founded by Musk - CEO of the billionaire electric car manufacturer Tesla and social media platform Twitter - began sending American astronauts into orbit in May 2020.