SpaceX successfully delivered a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, completing the journey in a swift 15 hours. The four astronauts – from the US, Russia, and Japan – arrived in their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They are slated to spend at least six months aboard the orbiting laboratory, replacing colleagues who have been there since March. SpaceX is expected to bring the previous crew back to Earth as early as Wednesday.
New ISS crew
The newly arrived crew members are NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov. Interestingly, each of them had initially been assigned to different missions. "Hello, space station!" Fincke radioed as soon as their capsule docked high above the South Pacific.
Cardman and another astronaut were reassigned from a SpaceX flight last year to accommodate NASA's two stranded astronauts, Boeing Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Their planned one-week stay at the space station unexpectedly extended to over nine months.
Fincke and Yui had been training for the next Starliner mission, but with Starliner grounded until 2026 due to thruster and other issues, both were transferred to SpaceX. Platonov, on the other hand, was removed from the Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago due to an undisclosed illness.
Their arrival temporarily boosts the space station's population to 11. The welcoming astronauts had cold drinks and hot food ready for them.
While this taxi flight was remarkably speedy by US standards, the Russians still hold the record for the fastest trip to the space station, having achieved a lightning-fast three-hour journey.
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