SpaceX’s four Crew-6 members have safely boarded the International Space Station (ISS) following a voyage that lasted about 27 hours.
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:34 a.m. ET on Thursday and reached the orbital outpost about 24 hours later.
A minor software glitch on the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft briefly delayed the docking procedure, which eventually took place at 1:40 a.m. ET on Friday morning.
After final preparations, at about 3:40 a.m. ET, the Crew-6 members entered the space station, where they were greeted by the seven-person team already aboard the facility.
NASA shared a short video showing the new arrivals entering the station as it orbited Earth at an altitude of about 260 miles.
All aboard the orbiting laboratory! The four members of our @SpaceX #Crew6 mission have entered the @space_station and were greeted at their welcoming ceremony. Next: a safety briefing and orientation, then the new arrivals are off to catch some sleep. pic.twitter.com/wegjRG0qjs
— NASA (@NASA) March 3, 2023
Bowen, Hoburg, Al Neyadi, and Fedyaey will spend the next six months living and working aboard the ISS, working on a slew of science experiments in microgravity conditions while performing other tasks such as spacewalks for maintaining and upgrading the station.
This is the first space mission for all of the crewmates except Bowen, who is now on his fourth trip to orbit. Al Neyadi is the second Emirati astronaut to reach orbit and the first to embark on a long-duration mission.
Crew-6’s arrival makes the station a little more crowded than usual, as there will be eleven crewmembers on board. That won’t last long, however, as the four Crew-5 members are scheduled to depart the station in about five days’ time following a six-month stay.
