A recycled SpaceX capsule carrying 4 astronauts arrived on the International Space Station on Saturday.
The Dragon capsule docked autonomously with the orbiting outpost 420 kilometres above the Indian Ocean, a day after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The new arrivals – representing the U.S., France and Japan – will spend six months on the space station. They’ll change 4 astronauts who will return to Earth in their very own Dragon capsule Wednesday.
It was the primary time two SpaceX crew Dragons had been parked there on the identical time – virtually aspect by aspect.
Third crew flight
Although this was SpaceX’s third crew flight for NASA, it was the primary to use a car that’s flown earlier than. The Dragon capsule was used for Space’’s first crew launch final May, whereas the Falcon rocket hovering Friday hoisted crew two in November.
Fully automated
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur – the commander and pilot of the arrival Dragon – monitored their capsule’s flat display computer systems because the space station loomed ever bigger. They may have taken management if vital, however the autonomous system did its job, very like a self-driving automobile.
Also checking into the space station: France’s Thomas Pesquet and Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide. Both have lived there earlier than, as has Kimbrough. It was the primary station go to for Megan McArthur.
For the following 4 days, the space station can be house to 11 astronauts, simply shy of the file of 13 set throughout NASA’s space shuttle period.
