Monday, April 28, 2025

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 Visits Kennedy Space Center | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 Visits Kennedy Space Center | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew poses for a group picture during a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui.
NASA astronauts Mike Fincke (left) and Zena Cardman (right), the pilot and commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, are pictured during a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew poses for a group picture during a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui.
NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, participates in a training session Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, pilot of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, participates in a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, mission specialist of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, participates in a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia, mission specialist for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, participates in a training session at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew participates in a training session at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia.

As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch in the coming months to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov of Russia will join crew members aboard the space station no earlier than July 2025.

The flight is the 11th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth.

Cardman previously was assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, and Fincke previously was assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission. NASA decided to reassign the astronauts to Crew-11 in overall support of planned activities aboard the International Space Station. Cardman carries her experience training as a commander on Dragon spacecraft, and Fincke brings long-duration spaceflight experience to this crew complement.

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman biography:

This will be Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station, having logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. 

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke biography:

With 142 days in space, this will be Yui’s second trip to the space station. After his selection as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, Yui flew as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle. In addition to constructing a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, he conducted a total of 21 experiments for JAXA. In November 2016, Yui was assigned as chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. He graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency (currently Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Yui joined the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense as a lieutenant colonel.

JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui biography:

The Crew-11 mission will be Platonov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, Platonov earned a degree in Engineering from Krasnodar Air Force Academy in Aircraft Operations and Air Traffic Management. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in State and Municipal Management in 2016 from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, he has experience in piloting aircraft, zero gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.

Image Credit: SpaceX
Capture Date: April 11, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew11 #SpaceXDragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #MikeFincke #ZenaCardman #JAXA #KimiyaYui #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #OlegPlatonov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

No comments:

Post a Comment