Freedom: SpaceX Crew-4 Gives New ISS Dragon Ride a Historic Name – CNET [CNET]

SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch in April as Elon Musk’s company continues to provide off-this-rock ride services to NASA. A new capsule requires a new name, and the SpaceX Crew-4 team chose a good one: Freedom. The name is a nod to American space history.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren announced the name on Twitter on Wednesday, saying, “The name celebrates a fundamental human right, and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unencumbered human spirit.”

FREEDOM!! Crew-4 will fly to the International Space Station in a new Dragon capsule named “Freedom.” The name celebrates a fundamental human right, and the industry and innovation that emanate from the unencumbered human spirit. 1/ pic.twitter.com/uMVzeS0rp1

— Kjell Lindgren (@astro_kjell) March 23, 2022

Lindgren followed up with a tweet talking up NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which brought astronaut launches back to US soil after years of relying on Russian spacecraft. The name Freedom is a shoutout to the first American astronaut. Said Lindgren, “Alan Shepard flew on Freedom 7 at the dawn of human spaceflight. We are honored to bring Freedom to a new generation!” Shepard’s historic mission took place in 1961.

The other Crew Dragon capsules are named Endeavour, Resilience and Endurance. The Crew-4 mission will be Freedom’s first flight. Crew-4 includes NASA’s Lindgren, Jessica Watkins and Robert Hines. European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (who memorably cosplayed as Star Trek’s Captain Janeway while on the ISS) is the fourth crew member.

NASA and SpaceX recently adjusted the target launch date for Crew-4 to no earlier than April 19, in part to accommodate the scheduling of a private ISS mission through space tourism company Axiom Space. Freedom will take off on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and carry a famous name into space once again.