SpaceX is set to launch NASA’s next astronauts on the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wed, Oct 5.
Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for 12:00pm EDT. You can watch it LIVE below
With the international nature of the ISS, only two of the crew are actually NASA astronauts. And both of them, commander Nicole Mann and pilot Josh Cassada, will be going to space for the first time.
Joining them are veteran astronaut Koichi Wakata from Japan on his 5th flight to space, and cosmonaut Anna Kikina from Russia, who will also be making her first spaceflight.
Together, the 4 astronauts will join ISS Expedition 68, living and working there for the next 6 months. They’ll be staying busy too, conducting over 200 science experiments, technology demonstrations and carrying out a wide range of other objectives. You can read about some of the work they’ll be doing HERE.
Weather also looks great for tomorrow, with a forecasted 90% chance of favorable conditions expected.
![](https://avgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/146DE3BB-E0D8-4954-9D05-B7D71F0B9FB7.jpeg)
Their Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance, was rolled out to Kennedy’s pad 39A on Oct 1. The crew arrived hours later from Ellington Field, near Johnson Space Center in Houston. SpaceX conducted a static test fire of the rocket on the launch pad Oct 2, which is standard for them before these launches. The crew, launch teams and various support personnel also conducted a launch day dress rehearsal.
“It’s time to get to work. Nobody does this alone, and we have thousands of people around the globe we need to thank for getting us to this spot,” said Cassada upon arriving at KSC for launch. “This is a remarkable opportunity for all of us. We have trained and prepared for years for this.”
![](https://avgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/258C5BBD-3D90-4363-8744-38AFB75F68F2.jpeg)
The crew will take about 29 hours to arrive and dock to the ISS. Once aboard, the current Crew-4 residents will help their Crew-5 replacements adjust to life there, before handing the station over to Crew-5 and returning to Earth for a splashdown off the coast of Florida a week later.