NASA, SpaceX update target launch date for Crew-4 mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA and SpaceX announced Friday a new target launch date for the next crewed mission to the International Space Station.

The upcoming Crew-4 will be the fourth crew rotation mission with a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the company’s six-ever crewed flight. The space agency and company were originally targeting no earlier than April 15 but they have shifted to no earlier than Tuesday, April 19 because the Ax-1 crewed mission was delayed until at least April 3.

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NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Robert Hines and Kjell Lindgreen, along with European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will be carried to the space station from Kennedy Space Center in a new Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket, NASA says.

In a recent training session, the crew took part in simulations “focused on undocking and department” from the ISS.

“All four astronauts practiced in a high-fidelity simulator of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, complete with flight-realistic hardware, displays, and seats. Each astronaut gained experience suiting up and configuring the spacecraft for departure,” NASA said.

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