Experience SpaceX's Crew-6 astronaut mission with these amazing photos
SpaceX will launch the Crew-6 mission for NASA at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) on Monday, Feb. 27 from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission will be SpaceX's ninth overall crewed flight and the fourth for Crew Dragon Endeavour, the spacecraft that will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carry the mission's four crewmembers to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Crew-6 mission consists of NASA astronauts Warren "Woody" Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi. The mission will mark the first time the UAE has sent an astronaut on a long duration spaceflight.
Read more: Meet the SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts launching to the International Space Station on Feb. 26
In this NASA photograph, the crewmembers of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a dress rehearsal for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission launch on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
From left: Warren "Woody" Hoburg, Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev and Sultan Alneyadi.
The four crew members of SpaceX's Crew-6 mission pose for a photo in their bespoke spacesuits during a training session at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX spacesuits are not designed for spacewalks, but instead are designed to protect astronauts from depressurization and fire during launches and landings.
Read more: New SpaceX spacesuits get five-star rating from NASA astronauts
United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi speaks during a crew arrival press conference for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission at Kennedy Space Center's Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023.
"We can't thank everybody enough that helped prepare us for this mission. We thank our families, our trainers, throughout the agencies and I thank my colleagues, my teams. I think we have a great team," Al-Neyadi said at the event. "I can't ask for more of a team. I think we are ready physically, mentally and technically. And we can't wait to launch to space and conduct the mission."
Behind Alneyadi, from left, are Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and NASA astronauts Warren "Woody" Hoburg and Stephen Bowen.
Read more: SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts arrive at NASA spaceport for Feb. 26 launch
The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission arrives at the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A in Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 19, 2023.
The first Dragon spacecraft to reach the International Space Station did so without crew in 2012. Crew Dragon became the first private, crewed spacecraft to reach the ISS in 2020 with the historic Demo-2 mission.
Read more: SpaceX's Dragon: First Private Spacecraft to Reach the Space Station
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is rolled out to Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Feb. 22, 2023, for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission. Crew-6 is the sixth crew mission SpaceX has flown the International Space Station, and the seventh crewed flight of a Crew Dragon as part of the NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Related: Commercial crews and private astronauts will boost International Space Station's science
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft Endeavour enjoy a gorgeous Florida sunset while sitting on the pad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 23, 2023. The rocket will launch at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645) on Monday (Feb. 27) to kick off NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station.
Read more: SpaceX on track to launch Crew-6 astronaut mission for NASA tomorrow (Feb. 27)
SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket for its next astronaut launch on Friday (Feb. 24) during a dress rehearsal for the Crew-6 mission. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) on Monday (Feb. 27) and you'll be able to watch it live on Space.com.
Read more: SpaceX test-fires rocket ahead of Crew-6 astronaut launch for NASA (photos)
The Crew Dragon Endeavour waits atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the pad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 22, 2023 for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission.
The flight will mark the fourth crewed mission for this particular Crew Dragon, having also flown on SpaceX's historic first crewed flight, the Demo-2 mission in 2020; the Crew-2 mission in 2021; and Ax-1 in 2022, the first all-private crewed mission to the ISS.
