ISS update: Crew-11 enters quarantine three weeks before launch
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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 members stand inside the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center near Houston. They are, from left, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. (Photo Credit: NASA)
July 18 (UPI) -- The four members of NASA's Crew-11 space mission entered quarantine in the Houston area ahead of their planned launch on July 13 from central Florida to the International Space Station.
NASA's Crew 11 is the 11th operational mission of SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9.
On Thursday, they entered isolation at Johnson Space Center: NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Finck, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Plantonov, 39.
The two-week quarantine is standard procedure for NASA since Apollo from 1968 to 1972 to reduce preflight illness and prevent subsequent symptoms during flight.
Their contact with other people is limited.
Cardman, the 37-year-old commander, is making her first spaceflight with Fincke, 58, making his fourth trip to ISS. Yui, 55, will be on his first spaceflight and Platonov on his maiden mission.
NASA released a podcast of the quartet on Friday.
The crew members spent several months training at NASA and SpaceX sites.
They participated in training simulations at SpaceX's facility in Hawthorne, Calif., including launch, docking, undocking and departing from the ISS.
Also, they were involved in a water survival demonstration inside the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center.
At NASA, the crew trained at Launch Complex 39A on the emergency escape system, which employs slidewire baskets to deliver crew and pad teams from the launch tower to armored vehicles on the ground.
Earlier this month, the crew participated in an equipment interface test, putting on their spacesuits and familiarizing themselves with the interior of their Dragon spacecraft.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 12:09 p.m. EDT July 31 from Pad 39A for the launch. The Falcon 9 has flown 515 times since 2010 from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Crew-10 launched from Kennedy Space Center on March 14. Their arrival at ISS provided a way home for two NASA astronauts who have been on the ISS since June 2024 after arriving on June 5, 2024 on the Boeing Starling Crew Flight.
SpaceX, a private company with Elon Musk as CEO, is the only way now for NASA to send crews to the ISS from the United States. Americans also can fly on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft.
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