Four astronauts head to space station on SpaceX's fastest crew flight
A crew of two US astronauts, one Canadian and one Russian launched on an eight-hour journey to the International Space Station.
Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk and Sergey Teteryatnikov. The eight-hour trip promised to be the fastest SpaceX crew flight to the ISS.
Previous flights took longer. The crew will focus on biomedical studies, including research on how microgravity affects blood circulation and clotting.
Watkins, 38, is making her second spaceflight and first aboard Crew Dragon. Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov are all space rookies.
The research helps scientists plan for longer missions beyond Earth.
- Eight hours
- Journey time
- 400 kilometres
- Orbit altitude
- Six months
- Mission duration
Why it mattersUnderstanding human adaptation to microgravity is essential for planning future deep-space exploration and longer missions.
AustraliaNo direct Australian involvement yet; however, this health research will guide international space programs that Australia may participate in.
Corroborated bysmh.com.au
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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