NASA, SpaceX clear Crew-11 for July 31 launch aboard reused Dragon spacecraft

NASA and SpaceX have confirmed that the Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to launch no earlier than July 31 at 12:09 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will send four astronauts to the ISS for a six-month stay.The crew will travel aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour, which will be flying for the sixth time—more than any other Crew Dragon spacecraft to date. The mission will use a Falcon 9 rocket and is expected to dock with the ISS about 39 hours after launch, around 3 a.m. EDT on August 2. The Crew-11 team will take over from Crew-10, who arrived in March and will return to Earth after a few days of handover.

The Crew-11 astronauts include NASA’s Zena Cardman (commander) on her first spaceflight and Mike Fincke (pilot), a veteran making his fourth trip to space. Fincke was previously assigned to fly Boeing’s Starliner but was reassigned after delays with that program.Also on the crew are Kimiya Yui from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Oleg Platonov from Russia’s Roscosmos. Yui is making his second spaceflight; Platonov is on his first.

While aboard the ISS, the crew will carry out multiple research projects supported by the ISS National Laboratory. Two studies led by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Colorado will examine how stem cells grow and mature in microgravity, with the goal of improving treatments for conditions like heart and neurodegenerative diseases.

Another investigation by the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine will focus on engineered liver tissue that includes blood vessels. This research builds on NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge and may support the development of new regenerative treatments and future tissue production for transplants.

Students Isabelle Chuang and Julia Gross, winners of the 2024 Genes in Space™ competition, will conduct an experiment using phages—viruses that target bacteria—as a possible way to treat microbial infections in space. Genes in Space is a program backed by Boeing, miniPCR bio, and the ISS National Lab that invites students to propose DNA-based experiments for space.

An investigation funded by the US National Science Foundation and conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, will study how particles behave inside liquid droplets, which could help improve manufacturing processes and environmental cleanup methods.

A project from Axiom Space, in collaboration with Red Hat, will test a platform called Red Hat Device Edge to improve data storage and real-time processing in space. This technology aims to support research and manufacturing in low Earth orbit by allowing experiments to be adjusted more quickly while still in progress.

This will be the first time a crewed NASA mission is streamed live on Netflix, which joins Amazon Prime in broadcasting NASA coverage. NASA’s content has been available on Prime since May.

NASA and SpaceX mission managers have confirmed all systems are ready. Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, noted that all steps for certifying Endeavour for a sixth flight have been completed. NASA’s Ken Bowersox emphasised that launch decisions are based on readiness, saying, “Let’s make sure the vehicle is ready and our team is certain before we proceed.”

Weather conditions for launch are favourable, with the US Space Force forecasting a 90% chance of acceptable weather at the scheduled time.