Crew-7 Reaches the International Space Station

By Nancy Atkinson - August 28, 2023 at 4:25 PM UTC | Space Exploration
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SpaceX Crew-7, the next group of four astronauts, are now on board the International Space Station, and this diverse crew is definitely putting "International" in the ISS. The new crew hails from four different countries: the US, Denmark, Japan and Russia. There will be 11 people on board the station for a few days before the Crew-6 foursome head back to Earth.

NASA has at least 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations queued up for Crew-7['s six months space, many of which will help prepare for the upcoming Artemis missions.

Crew-7 arrived on Sunday, August 27 aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft, which launched at 3:27 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 26, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew includes NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. They are currently getting acclimated to life on orbit and becoming oriented with safety procedures and their new roles in space.

This is the seventh commercial crew rotation mission for NASA. Crew-7 joins the space station's Expedition 69 crew of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Woody Hoburg, and Frank Rubio, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and Andrey Fedyaev. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev will return to Earth in a few days.

Experiments the new crew will conduct include the collection of microbial samples from the exterior of the space station, the first study of human response to different spaceflight durations, and an investigation of the physiological aspects of astronauts' sleep.

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"The International Space Station is an incredible science and technology platform that requires people from all around the world to maintain and maximize its benefits to people on Earth," said former astronaut Ken Bowersox, now associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. "It's great seeing Crew-7 launch with four crew members representing four countries who will live and work on humanity's home in space as we continue the nearly 23 years of a continuous human presence aboard the microgravity laboratory."

Find out more about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission and Commercial Crew Program at this link.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com