The Dragon Freedom of Space X, the shuttle that is on top of Falcon 9 and that is about to bring Crew4 into orbit, the crew of which the Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti belongs, left on time.
For the Dragon shuttle it is a real baptism because it makes its first ever flight today. The shuttle bears the name of the historic Freedom that took Alan Sheppard out of Earth’s atmosphere, the first American to go into space in 1961.
The launch pad from which Samantha Cristoforetti is about to fly to the ISS is also historic, from here all the Apollo missions depart and from here the NASA Shuttle also departed.
For Cristoforetti it is certainly not a baptism: for the Italian astronaut it is a return to the International Space Station. Just a few hours after the launch, she celebrated her birthday by blowing out the candles during the “quarantine” with her travel companions.
Also aboard the Dragon Freedom are Commander Kjell Lindgren, pilot Robert Hines and mission specialist Jessica Watkins. Cristoforetti brings the scientific mission Minerva into orbit and once on board he will assume the role of commander of the American orbital segment Usos.