SpaceX Crew-3 Launch Today: How To Watch NASA's Latest Liftoff
Just a day after the landing of Crew-2, SpaceX Crew-3 is expected to launch – today! This event is set to take place at 9:03 p.m. EST, on November 10, 2021. The launch will be broadcast live VIA YouTube, which we'll also have embedded here, in the article below.
The Crew-3 Mission includes SpaceX Falcon 9's launch of a Dragon capsule with, the third long-duration mission with the Dragon to head to the International Space Station (ISS). This launch is positioned at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
The Crew-3 mission includes four astronauts, three from NASA, one from the ESA. Astronaut Matthias Maurer is with the ESA, and from NASA there'll be astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron.
As with previous Crew launches, stages of this launch run as follows; Launch, Ascent, Stage Separation, and Flip Maneuver (for the first stage rocket, which will land)*. Upon first Stage Separation, Dragon continues, and separates its second stage before the final bit heads up to its meeting point with the International Space Station.
*From the Flip Maneuver, the first stage of Falcon 9 deploys grid fins, moves to Entry Burn, Aerodynamic Guidance, Vertical Landing, and Autonomous Droneship Landing (final touchdown). There'll (hopefully) be an opportunity to watch this landing of Falcon 9's first stage on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. This droneship goes by the name "A Shortfall of Gravitas," and it should prove to be another shocking feat of engineering the likes of which are highly entertaining to behold.
As with any space launch, SpaceX and NASA have a target for launch, but things could change anywhere from now until right before the launch takes place. The live broadcast will begin at 3:45 PM Central Time, 4:45 PM Eastern, 1:45 PM Pacific.
The instantaneous launch window opens starting at 9:03 p.m. EST (November 10), or 2:03 UTC (November 11). There'll be another opportunity to launch (if the first attempt doesn't work out) on Thursday, November 11 at 8:40 p.m. EST, or 1:40 UTC on November 12. Stick around as we deliver updates as this crew heads to the ISS!