NASA will launch the Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than April 23. It released a statement, “NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 5:26 a.m. EDT [9:26 a.m. GMT] Saturday, April 23, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida”.
The crew will consist of NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins along with European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. It will head to the ISS on the Falcon 9 rocket bearing the Crew Dragon capsule.
According to the released statement, the date will give agencies time to complete the final preparation before of prelaunch for the Crew-4 mission post-launch of the Axiom Mission 1 to the ISS on April 8.
On Friday, NASA will conduct a review on flight readiness that will focus on the preparation of SpaceX’s crew transportation system, the ISS and its international partners supporting the flight.
In case the launch is delayed, the crew can avail of the option to launch on April 24 and April 25 as well.