NASA's SpaceX Crew-11: Prelaunch Dress Rehearsal | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11: Prelaunch Dress Rehearsal | Kennedy Space Center

From right to left, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew members Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, along with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia pose for a photo inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

From right to left, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew members Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, along with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia pose for a photo inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

From right to left, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, pose next to their mission patch logo inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 crew members walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a countdown dress rehearsal on Monday, July 28, 2025. From top left to right, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman signs her name next to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission logo inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke signs his name next to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission logo inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov signs his name next to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission logo inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui signs his name next to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission logo inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has rolled out to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center and is counting down to its launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission at 12:09 p.m. EDT on Thursday. Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialists Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos (Russia) will ride inside the Dragon spacecraft atop Falcon 9 for an automated, day-and-a-half long trip to the orbital outpost’s space-facing port on the Harmony module. Once there, the four Crew-11 members will join Expedition 73 beginning a seven-month research mission in low Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, the seven-member Expedition 73 crew is gearing up to welcome four new crewmates at the end of the week. Shortly after that, another quartet that has been living and working aboard the International Space Station since March will return to Earth.

Following the new crew’s arrival, four Expedition 73 crew members representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission will begin handing over their science and maintenance responsibilities in preparation for their departure about a week later.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Date: July 28, 2025

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