WASHINGTON, Aug 4 NASA has approved the next crew of the Crew Dragon, which will leave for the ISS in early 2024, in Russian Alexander Grebyonkin entered it.
«NASA astronauts Commander Matthew Dominik, pilot Michael Barratt and flight engineer Janette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut flight engineer Alexander Grebenkin, will be part of the 70 and 71 station crews in early 2024 to conduct a wide range of work and scientific research,» NASA said on Friday.
The upcoming flight will be the eighth regular flight to the ISS of the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft, which is operated by SpaceX under a contract with NASA. For Dominik, Epps and Grebenkin, the upcoming flight will be the first in their careers, astronaut Barrat will make his third flight into space.
Grebenkin's flight will take place under the cross-flight program between the Russian Federation and the United States. Before him, the Russian Konstantin Borisov will go to the ISS as part of the Crew-7 crew. His flight is now scheduled for August 25th. It was previously reported that the Crew-8 mission is scheduled for February 2024.
The cross-flight agreement was signed in July 2022. Initially, it provided for the organization of three missions of Russian and American ships, but in March, Roscosmos announced that the program had been expanded by one more mission, which would take place in the first half of next year.