With Trump’s cutbacks, crew heads for ISS unsure of when they’ll come back

A new four-member team is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS), having launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, known as Crew-11, lifted off at 11:43 AM EDT (15:43 UTC) on Friday, with an expected duration of six to eight months aboard the orbiting research facility. Leading the mission is spacecraft commander Zena Cardman, accompanied by veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, who serves as the vehicle pilot. They are joined by two mission specialists: Kimiya Yui from Japan and Oleg Platonov from Russia. The crew ascended aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour, propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket that headed northeast over the Atlantic Ocean, aligning with the ISS's orbit for an anticipated automated docking early Saturday. After the launch, the Falcon 9's reusable first stage booster successfully detached and made a controlled landing at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This marked the 53rd and final landing at this particular site, which has been utilized since the first successful recovery of a Falcon 9 booster on December 21, 2015. While many Falcon 9 missions see boosters landing on offshore drone ships, this particular launch had sufficient fuel for an onshore return. However, changes are on the horizon for SpaceX as the Space Force plans to repurpose LZ-1 for another rocket company. This transition means that SpaceX will shift its onshore landings to new sites that are currently in development near the existing Falcon 9 launch pads. Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability, noted that while they will continue using Landing Zone 2 in the near term, they are working closely with the Cape and Kennedy Space Center teams to determine the right time for this transition.