SpaceX and NASA send 3 astronauts to ISS

Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

2 astronauts from NASA and SpaceX board the ISS

European Space Agency astronauts Matthias Maurer (left) and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn (second from left), Raja Chari (second from right) and Kayla Barron (right) in SpaceX spacesuits ready to fly to the Neil A. Armstrong Operations Exit Checkout Building 2021 On Wednesday, Nov. 10, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Launch Site 39A will board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew 3 mission. (Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Crew 2 astronauts on the International Space Station. From left to right: JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshiide, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Meghan MacArthur and Sean Kimbrough. (Image credit: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet)

Crew 2 commander Shane Kimbrough and pilot Megan McArthur are configuring the craft in their seats for takeoff, while crew members Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet are also preparing to take off. All four astronauts donned their SpaceX spacesuits for detachment.

SpaceX launches 3 astronauts to the international space station.

SpaceX's Crew 3 mission for NASA will bring four astronauts to the International Space Station, joining the current Expedition 66 crew. The Crew-3 team includes NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer. Chari will lead the mission with Marshburn as the pilot. Marshburn has flown in space before, and astronauts with the rest of the crew are about to make their maiden flight.

SpaceX's next astronaut mission, dubbed Crew-3(Opens in a new tab), will take three U.S. astronauts and one European Space Agency astronaut to the International Space Station on a six-month mission. The launch is scheduled for October 31 (Halloween) at 2:21 AM ET (0621GMT). The crew included mission commander Raja Chari and mission experts Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron from NASA, as well as European astronaut Matthias Maurer.

The Crew-3 mission will carry NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer to the space station on a six-month expedition. Their launch came two days after SpaceX's Crew 2 mission for NASA ended.