The Crew Dragon spacecraft has successfully connected to the space station, transporting four new crew members to the station.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft has successfully connected to the space station, transporting four new crew members to the station.

Benjamin Hughes

On Tuesday, a SpaceX spacecraft known as the Crew Dragon successfully reached the International Space Station after a 28-hour trip in orbit. This mission brought three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the station, where they will stay for the next six months.

The docking capped an exceptionally busy “day” for SpaceX that included the will be SpaceX’s first with astronauts onboard

The upcoming launch of Crew Dragon on Sunday marks SpaceX’s inaugural flight with astronauts onboard. at 10:53 p.m. EST, followed by two back-to-back Falcon 9 flights

On Monday, one satellite was launched from Florida and another from California, resulting in a total of 76 orbiting satellites.

The Crew Dragon launched after a three-day delay due to strong winds. It successfully approached the space station and docked at the Harmony module’s forward port at 2:28 a.m. EST Tuesday, earlier than the original estimated time.

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During a customary ceremony to welcome the new members, station commander Andreas Mogensen (using a microphone) playfully interacts with Crew 8, who have just arrived (sitting in the front row wearing blue flight suits, from left to right): Jeanette Epps, cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, Mike Barratt, and Crew Dragon commander Matthew Dominick.

NASA TV


Once the hooks were engaged to secure the spacecraft, a SpaceX flight controller verified the completion of the docking sequence with the message “docking sequence is complete.” With that, the Crew Dragon Endeavour was officially welcomed to the International Space Station. The controller also noted that despite arriving 30 minutes ahead of schedule, the crew cannot be considered “Crew L8” (late).

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William Harwood

Since 1984, Bill Harwood has been providing full-time coverage of the U.S. space program, initially as the bureau chief for United Press International in Cape Canaveral and currently as a consultant for CBS News.

Source: cbsnews.com