Astronauts who missed out last year finally get chance in space
Their SpaceX capsule should reach the orbiting lab this weekend and stay for at least six months.
Zena Cardman, a biologist and polar explorer who should have launched last year, was ditched along with another Nasa crewmate to make room for Starliner's star-crossed test pilots.
The botched Starliner demo forced Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to switch to SpaceX to get back from the space station more than nine months after departing on what should have been a week-long trip.
Ensuring their safe return 'meant stepping aside', Ms Cardman said before her launch.
'Every astronaut wants to be in space. None of us want to stay on the ground, but it's not about me,' said Ms Cardman, the flight commander.
Even after launch, 'things can change at the last minute, so I'll count myself very fortunate when the hatch opens (to the space station)', she said.
Nasa's Mike Fincke – Ms Cardman's co-pilot – was the back-up for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams on Starliner, making those three still the only ones certified to fly it.
Mr Fincke and Japan's Kimiya Yui, former military officers with previous spaceflight experience, were training for Starliner's second astronaut mission. With Starliner grounded until 2026, Nasa switched the two to the latest SpaceX flight.
Rounding out the crew is Russia's Oleg Platonov. The former fighter pilot was pulled a few years ago from the Russian Soyuz flight line-up because of an undisclosed health issue that he said has since been resolved.
To save money in light of tight budgets, Nasa is looking to increase its space station stays from six months to eight months, a move already adopted by Russia's space agency.
SpaceX is close to certifying its Dragon capsules for longer flights, which means the newly launched crew could be up there until April.
Meanwhile, Russia's space chief has visited the United States to discuss plans for continued co-operation between Moscow and Washington on the International Space Station and lunar research with Nasa's acting chief, the first such face-to-face meeting in more than seven years.
Dmitry Bakanov, the director of the state space corporation Roscosmos, met on Thursday with Nasa's new acting administrator, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, on a visit to attend the launch of the crew to the space station.
Roscosmos said Mr Bakanov and Mr Duffy discussed 'further work on the International Space Station, co-operation on lunar programmes, joint exploration of deep space and continued co-operation on other space projects.'
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"So I think it has a good chance of moving forward even if the schedule slips." Deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, Dr Robert Massey, said: "I think the value of it is so big, that it's just a really exciting mission. "I don't want to sit there and say this should be funded over something else, because that's the thing we have to avoid doing. But if it goes ahead, it will be an incredibly exciting project." 6 This artists impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima Centauri b Credit: Getty While Earth is the only planet known to host life, scientists estimate there could be hundreds of millions of potentially habitable worlds in our galaxy, the Milky Way. These worlds are very far away from Earth - with the closest potentially habitable world, Proxima Centauri b, located 4.2 light-years away. To spot these planets, even through the glare of their nearest star, HWO will need some next-generation instruments on board. 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Whether we find life or not, the implications will be transformational - not just for space science, but for our understanding of humanity's place in the universe. Dr Caroline Harper, head of space science at the UK Space Agency Though HWO is expected to be pretty large - and will require a powerful rocket like Nasa's Space Launch System, SpaceX's Starship or Blue Origin's New Glenn to launch it into space. The European Space Agency (ESA) and UK Space Agency (UKSA) are interested in becoming partners in the project, just like they are on the Webb telescope. Speaking at Nasa's Habitable Worlds Observatory conference in Washington, DC, earlier this week, Dr Harper promoted the UK's ambition to lead an instrument on the mission. "The UK has developed exceptional expertise in exoplanet science and cutting-edge instrumentation," she said. "We now have the chance to build on these strengths and take part in what could be the most significant scientific discovery in human history. "Whether we find life or not, the implications will be transformational - not just for space science, but for our understanding of humanity's place in the universe.' 6 Rocky planet Earth-like planet, Proxima Centauri b Credit: Getty All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet How many moons does Mercury have? What colour is Venus? How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet How big is Jupiter? How many moons does Saturn have? Does Uranus have rings? How many moons does Neptune have? How big is Pluto? How hot is the Sun?
