Space X’s fourth Dragon capsule to carry astronauts to space has been named “Freedom,” bringing the name of the first capsule to fly an American into space to a new generation.
The fourth Dragon mission to carry astronauts is set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station on April 19.
The mission was originally slated to launch on April 15, but was postponed to allow more spacing between missions after Houston-based company Axiom Space AX-1 mission was delayed, according to NASA.
The crew, including, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, along with European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, are scheduled for a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, where they will conduct science experiments in microgravity.
Lindgren, who will command the Crew-4 mission, announced the name on Twitter Wednesday.
“Crew-4 will fly to the International Space Station in a new Dragon capsule named ‘Freedom,” Lindgren tweeted. “The name celebrates a fundamental human right, and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unencumbered human spirit.”
Alan Shepard (1923-1998) was the first American to fly to space on May 5, 1961 aboard NASA’s Mercury-Redstone 3, also known as Freedom 7.
Shepard chose the name “Freedom” based on the Cold War space race between the United States and the then-Soviet Union, and told reporters that he also added “7” as a symbol of camaraderie with his six other Mercury astronauts, who later also flew to space.
The Freedom 7 is currently in the care of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum that is set to display the capsule in its new “Destination Moon” gallery when it opens later this year.
The other three Dragon capsules, also named by their crews, include the Endeavour, Resilience and Endurance.
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken named the first Dragon to launch crew to the ISS Endeavour at least in part after their shared first ride to space.
“We both had our first flights on shuttle Endeavor, and it just meant so much to us to carry on that name,” Hurley said about three hours after he and Behnken reached orbit, ending a nine-year absence of human spaceflight from U.S. soil in May 2020.
Hurley added that the name Endeavour was also chosen after the “endeavor” NASA and SpaceX has been on since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.
The Apollo 15 command module that orbited the moon during the fourth lunar landing mission in 1971 was similarly named “Endeavor.”
The second crew to launch to the ISS named the capsule “Resilience,” in tribute to NASA and SpaceX teams work through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third crew, which the fourth crew will replace, named the capsule “Endurance.”
The name is “a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit as we push humans and machines farther than we ever have…to extended stays for low Earth orbit…and knowing we will continue our exploration to go even farther,” said crew commander Raja Chari.
Related Links
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
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SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites after weather delays
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 19, 2021
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites from Florida early Saturday morning after the launch was postponed Friday night because of stormy weather.
The launch, which came days after the company celebrated its 20th anniversary, was pushed back to 12:42 a.m. EDT when stormy weather near Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station had cleared.
The spacecraft was initially scheduled to launch from a Falcon 9 rocket at 11:23 p.m. EDT but it was delayed “due to unfavorable weath … read more
