NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, arrived at the launch complex, where SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft was ready for liftoff at 11:43 a.m. EDT Friday. Cardman is the commander, Fincke is the pilot, and Yui and Platonov are mission specialists.
The launch was scrubbed on Thursday just before liftoff due to inclement weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission was scheduled for 12:09 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 Rocket.
It is the first spaceflight for Cardman and Platonov, the second for Yui and the fourth for Fincke. It is the sixth mission for Endeavour, SpaceX's most-flown Crew Dragon capsule.
Crew-11 will relieve astronauts who have been at the ISS since March. Crew-11 is 11th operational astronaut mission SpaceX takes to and from the ISS under its contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Some science testing on the trip includes:Bionutrients 3. How to grow vitamins in space so astronauts can stay healthy on long flights. They'll be testing yogurt, kefir and a yeast-based drink.Stem cell X IP1. Stem cells could one day help fight cancer. Growing them in micro-gravity could help grow more volumes of cells, more cells and better ones than we can make on earth.Genes in space 12. This is testing phage therapy, which uses viruses that could target and kill bacteria. It could be a powerful alternative to antibiotics, especially in space, where infections can become harder to treat.
Members of Crew-11 will participate in a series of experiments to address health challenges astronauts may face on deep space missions during NASA's Artemis campaign and future human expeditions to Mars, as well as other experiments led by NASA's Human Research Program.
One study will investigate fluid pressure on the brain and another will examine how the body processes B vitamins and whether supplements can affect how astronauts respond to bodily fluid shifts. Some crew members also will wear thigh cuffs to keep bodily fluids from traveling toward their heads. Possible goals of these studies include ways to treat or prevent a group of eye and brain changes that can happen during long-duration space travel.
Another experiment will measure how multiple systems within the human body change in space, using vision assessments, MRI scans, and other medical exams to give a complete overview of the body's response to long-duration spaceflight.
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