Four astronauts of different nationalities took off on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS), where they are to take over from the crew sent in March. Their arrival is scheduled for Sunday.
Until now, the crews of NASA flights had always consisted of at least two Americans. Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA pilot and mission commander, is accompanied by Danish Andreas Mogensen, European Space Agency, Japanese Satoshi Furukawa and Russian Konstantin Borissov.
“To explore space, we have to do it together,” said Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, minutes before liftoff. Space is truly global and international cooperation is essential. »
The parents of Jasmin Moghbeli, whose first space flight is, fled Iran during the 1979 Islamic revolution. Born in Germany and raised in Long Island (New York), she joined the Marines and flew attack helicopters in Afghanistan. She hopes to inspire young Iranian women. “Believing in yourself is a very powerful thing,” she said before the flight.
Liftoff was delayed a day due to additional checks of the capsule’s life support system. Another NASA astronaut will take off from Kazakhstan bound for the ISS in mid-September, along with two Russians.
SpaceX has already launched eight crews on behalf of NASA. Boeing is also one of the service providers of the American space agency, but has not yet carried out any manned flight.
