NASA, JAXA astronauts discuss upcoming Crew-11 launch to ISS

Date:
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 18:38:21 +0000

Description:
NASA has updated the launch date for the next crew launch to the
International Space The post NASA, JAXA astronauts discuss upcoming Crew-11 launch to ISS appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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NASA has updated the launch date for the next crew launch to the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff of the Crew-11 mission is now scheduled for 12:09 PM EDT (16:09 UTC) on July 31 st from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With their launch now fast approaching, the crew is discussing their upcoming six-month mission to the ISS.

Launching onboard Crew Dragon Endeavour will be two NASA astronauts, one astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and one cosmonaut from Roscosmos. Crew-11s commander and pilot are NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, respectively. Kimiya Yui of JAXA and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos will serve as mission specialists.



Cardman will be making her first flight into space, although nearly a year after she was originally scheduled to. Cardman was bumped from the Crew-9 launch along with fellow astronaut Stephanie Wilson to allow for two empty seats that would later be used to bring back NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore
and Suni Williams from the ISS. They remained on the Station for an extended mission after their Boeing Starliner capsule was deorbited without them due
to safety concerns.

This is something that we train for, were ready for as astronauts, and most important to me was ensuring the safety of the mission, Cardman said in an interview with NSF. Thats the only promise that I really had for Crew-9.
Thats all that matters at the end of the day. And even though I had so many personal hopes for the mission, I couldnt imagine not being there for their training, for their launch, and then when they returned home to Ellington. Crew-11 commander Zena Cartman poses for a photo. (Credit: NASA/JSC)

She was still able to take part in the mission through the official NASA launch webcast.

There was no other possible option, and for a while, when we thought I would be launching with Alex [Gorbunov], Nick [Hague] had offered to support as the launch broadcast host, Cardman said. So it was really an honor and a no-brainer for me to offer the same for them. And it was such a treat to get to be there and see them liftoff.

Even though she had already trained as the Crew-9 commander for 18 months, she still went through training all over again for Crew-11.

For the Dragon training specifically even though that spacecraft is now very familiar to me, I really, really felt it was important to go through that training with my [Crew-11] crew, Cardman said. Its not only about the technical side of things or learning the procedures or learning the systems, its about how you work together as a team.



Pilot Mike Fincke had to train for an entirely different vehicle. He was originally slated to fly on the Starliner-1 mission, but following the issues with the Crew Flight Test mission last year, it was decided he would instead fly to the Station on Dragon.

Im still a Starliner fan, but it was a change to go from all the terminology and the acronyms and the systems of one spacecraft and move over to another one pretty quickly, Fincke recalled. Now, fortunately, I had been working
with the commercial crew program since like 2013. I helped Doug [Hurley] and Bob [Behnken] get close to DM-2, and then I went over to work with Starliner. So I wasnt completely a noob to Dragon or how SpaceX does things, but it did take a bit of focus to make the transition.

Mike previously spent Expeditions 9 and 18 aboard the station before
spending two weeks aboard the ISS on STS-134, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour . Mike Fincke training inside a Dragon capsule. (Credit: SpaceX)

My first mission there were two people, second mission there were three of
us at any one time, and now were gonna have a seven-person crew, Fincke said, comparing his past flights to the ISS. So, how to get along with so many brothers and sisters, you know, thats gonna be interesting. See Also Crew-11 Updates ISS Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2

As mentioned, this flight will use Crew Dragon Endeavour, which is named in honor of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Finckewas asked which of the two vehicles hes flown on with that name he prefers.

Im very partial to Shuttle Endeavour, but Im just getting to know Dragon Endeavour , we just got to see it last week down in Florida, and Im starting to really, really like it, Fincke said. So ask me when we get back, but at this point, theres an ex-girlfriend and a new girlfriend if you want to look at it that way.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui will make his second trip to space after flying aboard the Russian Soyuz vehicle in 2015. When comparing training for Dragon and training for Soyuz, he noted that the experience was very different.

In Russia, in Soyuz, we still have a very traditional training education system, Yui said. So, for example, if we have some need to learn how a microwave works in Russia, you would be taught the physics of how a microwave works or something like that, but in the United States, you just press this button and just set timers. JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui poses for a photo prior to launch. (Credit: NASA/JSC)

He will join the current ISS commander and fellow JAXA astronaut classmate Takuya Onishi. They plan to do research together, but Yui definitely wants to prove himself.

He actually set the hurdle very high for me, so I just want to work very
hard to overcome his abilities, that way the ground team would be impressed
by me.

Yui also hopes to show the world the unity happening aboard the ISS between several countries.

I just want to send a lot of positive messages to the people, not only in Japan, but all over the world. The ISS is a good example of unityand how we can do good things by cooperating with each other.

This all comes as the ISS nears its planned deorbiting in 2030. Finke says the calls for deorbiting the science lab early are unwarranted.

If we were to give up our beautiful International Space Station, lets make sure we have something else and not a gap, Fincke said. So these commercial low-Earth orbit and private space stations, Im looking forward to those being upit just makes a lot of sense to have that capability before we de-orbit the International Space Station.

(Lead image: The Crew-11 astronauts pose in front of their Falcon 9 booster. Credit: SpaceX)



The post NASA, JAXA astronauts discuss upcoming Crew-11 launch to ISS
appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/07/crew-11-interviews/


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