Space travel
German astronaut Maurer: “Next updates from orbit”
The astronauts (from left) Tom Marshburn, Matthias Maurer from Germany, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron are on their way to the launch pad. Photo: John Raoux / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The launch of the International Space Station (ISS) has already been postponed several times, but now it should finally start for the German astronaut Matthias Maurer. He said goodbye via Twitter.
A few hours before his planned launch for the International Space Station ISS, the German astronaut Matthias Maurer temporarily said goodbye to Earth via Twitter.
“Our kite has waited long enough,” wrote Maurer on Tuesday – alluding to the many postponements of the start of the “Crew Dragon” with which Maurer and his three NASA colleagues are supposed to fly to the ISS. “The next updates are coming from orbit!” Maurer thanked his French colleague Thomas Pesquet, who had returned from the ISS at the beginning of the week, for his support – and “for preparing my bed”.
The start, which has already been postponed several times, was scheduled for 3:03 a.m. CET on Thursday (9:03 p.m. on Wednesday local time). The crew was “healthy and excited and ready for the start” and the weather was looking good, Nasa announced at a last press conference before the planned start. Only a few passing rain showers caused concern at the Cape Canaveral spaceport on the east coast of Florida.
Start postponed
For the traditional farewell dinner there was an Asian menu on Tuesday, Maurer also announced on Twitter. Among other things, papaya salad and various curries were on the menu. According to Maurer, other traditions before the start include a card game between the lead astronaut of the crew and the head of the NASA astronaut office until the astronaut wins, and the astronauts’ signatures on a wall in the supply tower before entering the “Crew Dragon” capsule.
With Maurer, a German astronaut will fly into space for the first time in three years. Together with his NASA colleagues Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron, the 51-year-old Saarland native is to set off for the ISS from Cape Canaveral. The four astronauts are to be transported by a “Crew Dragon” from Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX. Due to bad weather conditions, a “minor medical problem” with one of the crew members and the retrieval of the crew around Pesquet from the ISS, the start, which had actually been planned for the last weekend in October, had been postponed several times.
With the flight, Maurer would be the twelfth German in space, the fourth on the ISS and the first to fly there in a “Crew Dragon”. On the ISS, the astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) will carry out numerous experiments for about six months at an altitude of around 400 kilometers and will probably also complete an outdoor mission. The last time a German Esa astronaut was in space was Alexander Gerst in 2018.