SpaceX and NASA launched the seventh operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-7) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 3:27 a.m. on 26 August 2023. The Dragon spacecraft "Endurance" atop a Falcon 9 rocket flew four astronauts to the International Space Station. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct science and technology demonstrations to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew NASA’s Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions to and from the space station.

Crew-7 Portrait (L-R: Konstantin Borisov, Andreas Mogensen, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Satoshi Furukawa)
PHOTO DATE: 03-03-23
LOCATION: Photo Studio
PHOTOGRAPHER: Bill Stafford and Robert Markowitz

The Crew

This will be NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli’s first trip into space after being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. The New York native earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering with information technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a master of science in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Moghbeli, a helicopter and Marine Corps test pilot, has more than 150 combat missions and 2,000 hours of flight time in over 25 different aircraft. She is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. As mission commander, she will be responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. She will serve as an Expedition 69/70 flight engineer aboard the station.

European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009 and became the first Danish citizen in space after launching aboard a Soyuz for a 10-day mission to the space station in 2015. As the pilot on Crew-7, he will be responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. Aboard the station, he will serve as an Expedition 69/70 flight engineer.

Mogensen is from Copenhagen, Denmark. He completed undergraduate studies and received a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London in England before gaining his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Mogensen has since served as a crew member for NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) missions 17 and 19. Mogensen was the European astronaut liaison officer to NASA's Johnson Space Center from 2016-2022, working as a CAPCOM for astronauts aboard the station and as ground support for spacewalks, relaying tasks and direction from mission control to the spacewalkers.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa will be making his second trip to space, having spent 165 days aboard the space station as part of Expeditions 28 and 29 in 2011. Furukawa is from Kanagawa, Japan, and was selected as a JAXA astronaut in 1999. He is a physician and received his medical degree from the University of Tokyo, and later a doctorate in medical science from the same university. Furukawa served as a crewmember on the 13th NEEMO mission, and later, was appointed head of JAXA’s Space Biomedical Research Group. Aboard the station, he will become a flight engineer for Expedition 69/70.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will be making his first trip to space, and will also serve as a mission specialist, working to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and entry phases of flight. He entered the Russian Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps as a test cosmonaut candidate in 2018 and will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 69/70.