SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon spacecraft with a crew of four to the ISS as part of the commercial mission Axiom Space, reports TASS.
The launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the cosmodrome site at the Space Center.Kennedy (Florida) took place at 16:49 local time.Crew Dragon is expected to dock with the ISS on January 20.
The crew of the third Axiom Space mission will spend approximately two weeks on the ISS, during which they will conduct about 30 scientific experiments.
The crew includes the first astronaut in Turkish history, Alper Gezeravci. In space, Gezeravci will conduct 13 scientific experiments in coordination with TÜBİTAK Space, Axiom Space and NASA.
As Alper Gezeravcı noted on social media: “My name doesn’t matter. The main thing is for people to remember that their country is decisive enough to take a step into the future and dream not about the limits of the sky, but about the depths of space”.
In addition to the Turkish astronaut, NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria (USA), who will act as commander, as well as pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), and mission specialist Marcus Wandt (Sweden) are on board the Crew Dragon.