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The first astronauts of this NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed The Turtles) to fly to space, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron on SpaceX Crew-3 took a stuffed turtle as zero-g indicator to pay a tribute to their astronaut group. Additionally, to include the other crew members on board, Matthias Maurer and Tom Marshburn, the turtle was named "Pfau", a German word meaning "Peacock" for Matthias Maurer, who is German, and for Tom Marshburn, who was part of NASA Astronaut Group 19 (nicknamed The Peacocks).
SpaceX Crew-3 was the Crew Dragon's third NASA Commercial Crew operational flight, and its fifth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 UTC to the International Space Station. It was the maiden flight of Crew Dragon Endurance.
This launch brought the total number of humans who have been to space to more than 600 with Maurer (600) and Barron (601)
View of the ISS from Endeavour
Endurance docked at the ISS
Names USCV-3 Mission type ISS crew transport Operator SpaceX COSPAR ID 2021-103A SATCAT no.49407 Mission duration 176 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes, 52 seconds Spacecraft properties Spacecraft Crew Dragon Endurance Spacecraft type Crew Dragon Manufacturer SpaceX Launch mass12,055 kg (26,577 lb) Crew Crew size4 Members Raja Chari Thomas Marshburn Matthias Maurer Kayla Barron Expedition Expedition 66 / 67 Start of mission Launch date not a number value UTC (10 November, 9:03:31 pm EDT) Rocket Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1067.2) Launch site Kennedy, LC‑39A End of mission Recovered by MV Shannon Landing date 6 May 2022, 04:43:23 UTC (12:43:23 am EDT) Landing site Gulf of Mexico, near Clearwater, Florida Orbital parameters Reference systemGeocentric orbit Regime Low Earth orbit Inclination 51.66° Docking with ISS Docking port Harmony forward Docking date 11 November 2021, 23:32 UTC Undocking date 5 May 2022, 05:20 UTC Time docked 174 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes
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The third SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program was originally scheduled to launch on 31 October 2021. However, it was delayed to 3 November 2021 due to unfavorable weather in the Atlantic Ocean, and then further delayed to 7 November 2021 due to a minor medical issue with one of the astronauts. Due to expected bad weather, it was again delayed to 9 November 2021.
Due to the launch delays, NASA decided to return the astronauts from Crew-2 before Crew-3 launched, thus being the first Crew Dragon indirect handover of space station crews. SpaceX Crew-2 departed the station on 8 November 2021 and splashed down on 9 November 2021. SpaceX Crew-3 mission launched from Cape Canaveral on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 UTC.
The return of Crew-3 was delayed multiple times, from April 2022 to early May. Undocking happened on 5 May (05:20 UTC), with splashdown occurring the following day after spending 176 days in space.
The European segment of the mission is called "Cosmic Kiss".
