![]() SpaceX's Crew Dragon space capsule explained (infographic) See the evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures Starship is the giant vehicle that SpaceX is developing to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and other distant destinations. However, she added, as time goes on and after the space station retires, they will continue to evaluate free-flying missions, asking, "Should that be a Dragon mission? Or would that be a Starship mission?" "As of now, we're planning to make sure our number one priority is make sure that we keep providing the crew and cargo services that the space station needs. (SpaceX also has several Dragon vehicles outfitted for robotic cargo transport.) The plan is to have these vehicles last for the duration of the International Space Station, which is expected to retire in 2030, Jessica Jensen, vice president of customer operations and integration at SpaceX, said during today's news conference. This is likely to be the last new Dragon built, as SpaceX plans for each Dragon to fly about five times, totaling 20 missions. " I think it's really just a tribute to the legacy of the Black women astronauts who have come before me, as well as to the exciting future ahead." ![]() "This is certainly an important milestone, I think both for our agency and for the country," Watkins said during the crew news conference. With this mission, Watkins will become the first Black woman to conduct a long-duration spaceflight. Lindgren also noted, during a news conference with the mission's crew that occurred later today, that the mission patch, which features a dragonfly, was designed by his daughter. The crew will fly aboard a brand-new Dragon capsule, the fourth SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle, which the crew has named Freedom. ![]() This will be the second spaceflight for Cristoforetti and Lindgren and the first for Watkins and Hines. Crew-4 will fly NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren (who's the mission commander), Bob Hines (pilot) and Jessica Watkins (mission specialist) as well as Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (mission specialist).
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