The 4 astronauts driving a shiny new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft have shared a short glimpse of their life in orbit simply hours after a picture-perfect launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Crew-3 astronauts — NASA’s Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, together with European Space Agency’s (ESA) Matthias Maurer — launched their fifth companion: a sequined plush turtle known as “Pfau.” They launched toward the space station late Wednesday (Nov. 10) and can dock on the International Space Station tonight. You can watch that live here at 7:10 p.m. EST (2310 GMT).
Live updates: SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronaut mission for NASA
“Good morning from Dragon Endurance,” Marshburn said in the video. “It’s been a wonderful ride up here, an incredible experience, and we’d like to talk a little bit about our spacecraft and life on board.”
A easy rocket experience
Marshburn stated that Crew-3’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was a easy experience, with the astronauts capable of really feel the acceleration of the rocket. “Falcon gave us a wonderful ride,” he stated. “Staging was very exciting, with a few moments of zero-g, but was very smooth compared to my other flights.”
He then handed the mic over to Kayla Barron, to introduce the crew’s shiny fifth member, a stuffed turtle plush toy known as Pfau. It was the Crew-3 crew’s zero-g indicator to indicate they reached space.
Barron defined that she and Chari are each a part of NASA’s newest class of astronauts — known as the turtles — Marshburn was a peacock, and Pfau is German for “peacock,” so it represented everybody.
“We’re really excited to represent our class (the Turtles) in space, so we chose a peacock turtle and named her Pfau,” Barron stated.
Related: SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronaut launch for NASA in photos
“So far we’ve just been hanging out in the cabin,” Barron stated of the group’s actions this morning. “Tom is the only veteran, the rest of us are rookies, so we’ve been trying to get our space legs.”
Chari stated that to date the crew’s expertise within the Crew Dragon has been very similar to what they expertise within the simulator, solely in space “it’s much easier to scratch your back”.
“We’ve done a few burns so far to catch up to the ISS,” Chari stated of the journey to the space station. “It’s been a great ride, Pfau’s been riding along with us, and enjoying it the whole way.”
Maurer stated that one of many issues the crew has been doing is engaged on their pictures abilities earlier than they get to the space station. He stated the crew has been looking the window on the Earth, snapping photos and in addition of one another as they float in regards to the cabin.
The astronauts have been taking photos of the Dragon’s thrusters as the hearth all through the flight in addition to gazing on the moon by the window within the docking hatch.
Eating on the go
One of the issues that Marshburn was stunned about is the truth that the Crew-3 astronauts arrived in space with an urge for food. He stated that his crewmates have been adjusting to weightlessness pretty effectively and everybody has already shared two meals collectively.
“One of the most delightful things about being in space is eating,” Marshburn stated. “Everybody’s been feeling really good and enjoying eating.”
“We’ve already had two meals which is kind of surprising,” he added.
Marshburn stated that to date there have not been any disasters within the cabin.
Barron stated that at NASA the astronauts have a motto: “Train like you fly” and that their crew was taking that critically on this flight.
“We’ve spent a lot of our extra time in quarantine this past week eating a lot, so we’re well prepared to come up here and eat some more.”
Marshburn stated that astronauts are inspired to play with their meals in space as a result of it helps present what it is wish to dwell in zero gravity. “We’ve already had some target practice with macadamia nuts and so far I’d say we’ve been fairly successful.”
Crew-3 is anticipated to dock with the space station at 7:10 p.m. EST (0010 GMT on Friday) tonight (Nov. 11) when they may be a part of fellow NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov of Expedition 66, bringing the total variety of occupants of the orbital outpost to seven.
“We have a great view of the moon as we make our way to the space station to visit Mark and the rest of the crew,” Chari stated.
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