Crew Dragon Endurance (serial number C210) is the third operational SpaceX Dragon 2 reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX. It first launched on 11 November 2021 to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX Crew-3 mission. It has subsequently been used for the Crew-5 mission launched in October 2022 and the Crew-7 mission launched in August 2023. The capsule was named in honor of the SpaceX and NASA teams who worked to build the spacecraft during the COVID-19 pandemic and Endurance, the ship used by Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Crew Dragon Endurance
Crew Dragon Endurance during rollout to pad 39A in October 2022.
TypeSpace capsule
ClassDragon 2
EponymEndurance
Serial no.C210
OwnerSpaceX
ManufacturerSpaceX
Specifications
Dimensions4.4 m × 3.7 m (14 ft × 12 ft)
PowerSolar panel
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
History
LocationCape Canaveral, Florida
First flight
Last flight
Flights3
Flight time532 days, 14 hours, 59 minutes
Dragon 2s
← C209
C211 →

History

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On 7 October 2021, it was announced that Dragon C210 will be called Endurance.[1] Astronaut Raja Chari said that the name honors the SpaceX and NASA teams that built the spacecraft and trained the astronauts who will fly it. Those workers endured through a pandemic. The name also honors Endurance, the ship used by Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The three-masted vessel sank in 1915 after being bound in ice before reaching Antarctica[2] and was found during the Crew-3 mission.[3]

Endurance was first launched on 11 November 2021 (UTC) on a Falcon 9 Block 5 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), LC-39A, carrying NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a six-month mission to the International Space Station.

Flights

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List includes only completed or currently manifested missions. Dates are listed in UTC, and for future events, they are the earliest possible opportunities (also known as NET dates) and may change.

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References

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  1. ^ "We have a capsule name!". Twitter. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Astronauts choose "Endurance" as name for new SpaceX crew capsule". Spaceflight Now. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic". BBC News. 9 March 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
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