Four astronauts are to be launched to the ISS in late January aboard a rocket built by another space company, Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The nearly 100,000-kilometer flight to ISS is more than quadruple the distance of the longest nonstop flight on earth at 21,000 kilometers. The astronauts will work and live in the American section of the space station and plan to conduct a number of scientific experiments while in orbit. Lopez-Alegria said he will start full-time training in August and Connor, the mission pilot, will begin in September. Starting in October, all four will begin Houston-based training on the ISS systems and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.

Source: Manila Times May 11, 2021 16:18 UTC