Astronauts Arrive At Crew Dragon Launch Site
Four astronauts have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the southern US state of Florida for the launch of a manned private-sector spacecraft scheduled for next weekend.
The astronauts arrived on Sunday from the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where they trained for the mission.
This will be the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule, developed by the US company SpaceX. The crew will be transported to the International Space Station, or ISS, and stay there for about six months.
The crew of four includes three American astronauts and Japanese astronaut Noguchi Soichi. Noguchi said at a news conference that it is a very difficult time amid the pandemic, but he hopes to make the mission a success for the people who support him.
Noguchi has been on both a US Space Shuttle and a Russian Soyuz. This will be his third space mission. Noguchi is due to carry out scientific experiments at the ISS, including one that involves iPS cells that may lead the way to creating body parts.
He is also expected to appear in broadcasts from a studio inside the Japanese lab Kibo.
The launch of the spacecraft is scheduled for 7:49 p.m. local time on November 14.
