LOS ANGELES, July 24 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX are targeting July 31 for the launch of their next crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the U.S. space agency announced Thursday.
Liftoff is scheduled for 12:09 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (1609 GMT) next Thursday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Docking with the ISS is expected around 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2.
The new mission, codenamed Crew-11, will send NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to the ISS.
This will mark the 11th crew rotation mission conducted in partnership with SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The initiative aims to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the ISS using commercial spacecraft. ■