NASA's Crew-7 Mission Launches 4 Astronauts Into The Orbit. Here's Everything You Must Be Knowing!

NASA sent four astronauts hailing from four different countries, namely the United States, Japan, Russia, and Denmark through a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 26. This venture was special in a different sense, as it was the very first take-off by the US in which all the astronauts on the spacecraft actually hailed from different countries. Let's talk about the mission.

The Crew-7 Mission

The mission is called Crew-7. It includes Jasmin Moghbeli, a NASA astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, a European Space Agency astronaut, Konstantin Borisov, a Roscosmos cosmonaut, and Satoshi Furukawa, a JAXA astronaut. It was expected that they reach the ISS on Sunday. There have been four astronauts staying up there since the month of March. This new batch of astronauts will be replacing the previous batch and will be staying at the ISS for the upcoming six months. They will be conducting a wide array of experiments.

Have a look at this video shared on X (Twitter) by SpaceX.

Liftoff of Crew-7! pic.twitter.com/fvMpbvDPjU

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 26, 2023

The mission commander, Moghbeli, radioed a message from orbit in which she expressed that the astronauts up there are a united team and hold a common mission. She further expressed that the team's composition displays “what we can do when we work together in harmony.”

As a part of NASA's commercial crew program taking astronauts to ISS, the Crew-7 stands as the eighth such flight operated jointly by NASA and SpaceX. The first crewed mission by SpaceX was in the year 2020.

The Crew-7 astronauts will be conducting more than 200 science experiments along with a myriad of technology demonstrations during their time at the space station in order to get ready for voyages to Mars, Moon, and beyond. The research will comprise of a gathering of microbial samples collected from the space station's exterior. The team will also be finding out how sleeping in the microgravity environment is different from Earth. Interestingly, they will also be analyzing the brain waves of astronauts while they are asleep.

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Let's know the astronauts better!

As stated above, the mission comprises of four astronauts hailing from different countries and bound by a common mission. Let us get to know them better.

Jasmin Moghbeli- NASA

Jasmin Moghbeli was born to an Iranian couple in Germany. The couple had to flee their country at the time of the 1979 revolution. Moghbeli was raised in Long Island, New York. It was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge where Jasmin Moghbeli graduated with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering with information technology. After her bachelor's, she joined the Marines. 

Moghbeli is a graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School, Maryland, and is a Master of Science in aerospace. It was in the year 2017 when Jasmin Mighbeli got selected as an astronaut at NASA. She is the mission commander of the Crew-7 mission and is responsible for all the flight phases starting from the launch to the re-entry.

Andreas Mogensen- European Space Agency

Andreas Mogensen became the very first Dutch person to enter into space in the year 2015. The ESA astronaut was part of a 10-day mission to the space station through the Soyuz spacecraft in Russia. Andreas Mogensen holds a doctorate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in the field of aerospace engineering. In the mission, the astronaut is responsible for performance aboard the station and for spacecraft systems.

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Satoshi Furukawa- JAXA

It is not the first time for Satoshi Furukawa to go into space. In fact, the Crew-7 mission would be the astronaut's second voyage to space. The man has already spent a period of 165 days aboard the space station in the year 2011 because of his Expeditions 28 and 29. Prior to becoming an astronaut in Japan in the year 1999, the man served as a surgeon for around a decade.

Konstantin Borisov- Roscosmos

With the Crew-7 mission, Konstantin Borisov is traveling to space for the very first time. The man was earlier an engineer who later turned into a businessman. The man runs a freediving school in Moscow. He also judges diving, in which divers do not use oxygen tanks and hold their breaths beneath the water. It was in 2018 when he became a part of the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps.

Finally, why does the mission comprise such a diverse team of astronauts?

The ongoing cooperation among numerous countries in space has resulted in the Crew-7 mission. This cooperation has begun specifically since the year 1998 with the launch of the space station. 

The International Space Station Program comprises countries like Canada, Russia, Japan, and the United States, along with the participating nations of the European Space Agency. According to the website of NASA, the program is one of the most determined international collaborations ever in the world.

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