CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, making the trip in a quick 15 hours.
Four astronauts from the U.S., Russia, and Japan have arrived at the space station aboard their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. They plan to remain at the space station for at least six months, replacing the current team who has been there since March. SpaceX is expected to return those four astronauts as soon as Wednesday.
The new crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. These astronauts were initially assigned to different missions. Upon successful docking, Fincke radioed, “Hello, space station!” from high above the South Pacific.
Cardman and another astronaut were removed from a SpaceX mission last year to make space for NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the Boeing Starliner test pilots whose stay on the space station extended from one week to over nine months. Fincke and Yui were originally preparing for the subsequent Starliner mission, but due to the Starliner being grounded over issues with its thruster system, likely until 2026, they have switched to fly with SpaceX instead.
Platonov was bumped from the Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago because of an undisclosed illness.
Their arrival temporarily puts the space station population at 11.
“It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time,” Cardman said once on board.
Although considered fast by U.S. standards, the Russian team still holds the title for the quickest journey to the space station, completing it in a record time of three hours.
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