April 26, 2024

Home Stretch: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Mission Nears Completion of Crew Training

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada deals with water survival training at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. Cassada, together with NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, will fly to the International Space Station aboard NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 objective. Credit: Johnson Space Center
The team members who will fly aboard NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 objective are nearing completion of a special 18-month training program to prepare them for their science exploration objective to the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, commander; Josh Cassada, pilot; and objective specialists Koichi Wakata, of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina comprise the NASA SpaceX Crew-5 crew. They will raise off aboard SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft– on the businesss Falcon 9 rocket– from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Cassie Rodriquez, center, Crew-5 chief training officer at Johnson Space Center, presents with mission team, from delegated right, Josh Cassada, Anna Kikina, Nicole Mann, and Koichi Wakata. Credit: Johnson Space
The crew has actually undergone mission-specific training at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. Theyve also taken a trip to SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, for spacecraft training, and to international partner agencies for system and payload training.

” We really focus on what theyre going to need to perform the spaceport station objective,” said Cassie Rodriquez, Crew-5 chief training officer at Johnson. “So thats particular to the systems theyll be dealing with and jobs they will be performing.”
In addition to area station systems, the team has actually studied and taken part in extravehicular activities; Russian language; robotics; T-38 jet flying; spacesuit training; spacecraft training; and physical, tool, and science training. The astronauts also are given chances to exercise crew resource management, where they are exposed to contingency circumstances, discovering how to react and take particular functions in case of an emergency situation.
” We put them through circumstances to help develop that teamwork and expeditionary skills; how to live and work with other individuals in dangerous and very high-stress situations,” Rodriquez said. “They have shown management, toughness, and focus in whatever that they do. The devotion to human spaceflight, to making the mission a success– its really motivating.”
Crew-5 will fly to the spaceport station in Dragon Endurance, which formerly flew the agencys Crew-3 mission to and from the orbiting lab. NASA and its partners will host a media event in the coming weeks to talk about more about Crew-5 development.

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada works on water survival training at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. Cassada, along with NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, will fly to the International Space Station aboard NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 objective. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, commander; Josh Cassada, pilot; and objective specialists Koichi Wakata, of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina comprise the NASA SpaceX Crew-5 crew. They will raise off aboard SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft– on the companys Falcon 9 rocket– from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.