Paris, 15 December 2020. – The U.S. and the European space agencies, NASA and ESA, selected three astronauts to serve as crew members for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission is expected to launch in autumn 2021, the agencies said.
The trio will consist of NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, who will serve as commander and pilot, respectively, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who will serve as a mission specialist, NASA said. A fourth crew member will be added at a later date, following a review by NASA and its international partners.
The Crew-3 mission will be the first spaceflight for Chari and Maurer, NASA said, and the third for Marshburn. The three astronauts will work and live at the ISS orbiting laboratory for six months. Their mission will slightly overlap with Crew-2, which is expected to launch in spring 2021, the U.S. agency said.
