SpaceX Crew-11 Prepares for Artemis Lunar Research

SpaceX's Crew-11 mission successfully transported four astronauts—NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov—to the International Space Station (ISS) following a 15-hour journey from Kennedy Space Center. The crew's assignments were changed due to delays and issues with both Boeing's Starliner and Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Their arrival temporarily raised the ISS population to 11 and highlights ongoing U.S., Russian, and Japanese collaboration. The six-month mission will support NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and include lunar landing simulations for the Artemis program, which is preparing for future Moon missions. Crew-11 will also conduct experiments on how gravity affects spacecraft landing abilities, in addition to research in biology, technology, and human health. The Crew Dragon Endeavour, a reused spacecraft, docked smoothly, and the new crew was welcomed aboard by Expedition 73.