(From the left) ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn during a Crew-3 news conference on April 15, 2022.
(Image credit: NASA TV)
Posted on 04/16/2022 7:09:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin
After months living and working in space, NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts are nearing the end of their mission and ready to come home.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer launched with the SpaceX Crew-3 mission on Nov. 10. Now, their mission aboard the International Space Station is approaching an end, and the astronauts are preparing to return to Earth. As the crew said during a news conference held Friday (April 15), they have had an amazing mission but are excited to come home.
The crew will return to Earth later this month, sometime after the next SpaceX crewed mission to the station, Crew-4, arrives and they hand over the station to the newcomers. With Crew-4's launch being delayed to April 23, the exact date for Crew-3's return has not yet been set. But it will be soon, and the astronauts are excited.
"There's definitely a difference in the amount of training and the experience," Chari said of the visitors. "But we definitely feel that they are able to take care of themselves."
But is it getting cramped yet? "I don't think we found [them[ intrusive," he said. "The station's a pretty big place, it's about the size of five bedroom house."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Problem is NASA enormous white elephant SLS
The SLS is years overdo and billions over budget - was supposed to fly in 2017
Last 2 weeks was on launch pad for a fueling and simulated countdown
Ran into numerous problems and kept being delayed which impacted launch of AXIOM 1 private space mission and the Crew Dragon 4 mission to the ISS
Finally had to give up on the test and rol it back to Vehicle Assemble Building
I really think Elon Musk will have a Moon colony set up and running before NASA gets its act together.
“I really think Elon Musk will have a Moon colony set up and running before NASA gets its act together.”
Agreed—but Musk will have to totally decouple himself from NASA.
Right now he is still depending on them for some elements of the mission—example:
https://qz.com/2046840/a-1-billion-space-suit-is-holding-up-nasas-2024-moon-landing/
NASA should just revert to what’s worked in the past- the Apollo Moon Suits.
They must still have the plans for them, I would think. Maybe modern materials, more advanced manufacturing techniques, and they could come in ahead of the game.
Unless someone’s skimming a little cream off the top…
I think you may want to read this article—but fasten your seat belt first:
https://www.aulis.com/suits.htm
NASA is a zombie federal agency that has lost its way. NASA needs to be shut down and its workforce fired.
You’re right, it HAS lost its way, but in its heyday, they knew what they were doing.
Freed from Russian captivity behind the vacuum curtain?
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