Crew-3

Raja Chari

• Birthday: 06/24/1977
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 11/11/2021
• Last Flight: 11/11/2021

Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari is an American test pilot and NASA astronaut of the class of 2017. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, MIT, and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and has over 2,000 flying hours.

Thomas Marshburn

• Birthday: 08/29/1960
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 07/15/2009
• Last Flight: 11/11/2021

Thomas Henry “Tom” Marshburn is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. He served as a Mission Specialist on STS-127. Marshburn was a member of the Soyuz TMA-07M crew which launched to ISS in December 2012 to join Expedition 34. Served as flight engineer for Expedition 34 and 35.

Kayla Barron

• Birthday: 09/19/1987
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 11/11/2021
• Last Flight: 11/11/2021

Kayla Jane Barron is an American submarine warfare officer and NASA astronaut candidate of the class of 2017.

Matthias Maurer

• Birthday: 03/18/1970
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: German
• First Flight: 11/11/2021
• Last Flight: 11/11/2021

Maurer applied to the European Space Agency as an astronaut in 2008, but was not initially appointed to the European Astronaut Corps. He formally joined the European Astronaut Corps in July 2015. In March 2018, he gained certification to perform International Space Station-related spacewalks in the American spacesuit EMU. In 2018 he also successfully graduated from both basic astronaut training and pre-assignment training and thus became fully certified to go to space.
On 28 July 2020, Maurer was announced as a backup for Thomas Pesquet for the ISS expedition 65. His own flight is scheduled to take place no earlier than September 2021 aboard SpaceX Crew-3.

Crew-3

• Type: Human Exploration
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $52,000,000

SpaceX Crew-3 is the third crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 184 rockets, including 183 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 242 rocket launches.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Core B1067

Booster B1067 last launched 08/10/2024 and has seen 21 successful launches and landings. Falcon 9 Block 5 booster first used for the CRS-22 mission.

A Shortfall of Gravitas – ASOG

The fourth ASDS barge, A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) is currently used to recover Falcon 9 and Heavy boosters in the Altantic Ocean.

Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship – ASDS

An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.