“Crew Dragon” went to the ISS with a Roscosmos cosmonaut and an astronaut

On Saturday, the American company SpaceX published a video of the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon ship. Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Haig are on board. The ship must deliver them to the International Space Station (ISS).

Docking of the ship with the American ISS module is scheduled for September 30 at 00:30 Moscow time. Initially, the launch was scheduled for September 25, but was postponed to September 28. The mission will last five months, during which the cosmonauts will carry out a number of scientific studies and technical work on servicing the station.

For NASA astronaut Nick Haig, this is the second flight into space, during the first he went into outer space three times. For Alexander Gorbunov, this is the first flight.

The ship “Crew Dragon” is designed for four people, but this time only two are on board. This is due to the fact that the two remaining seats are intended for the crew of the Boeing Corporation Starliner ship, which could not leave the ISS with the crew due to possible technical malfunctions. Astronauts will be able to leave the ISS only in February next year, having spent much more time at the station than planned.