SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronauts have arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) following a 10-hour rocket and spacecraft ride from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft carrying NASA’s Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, plus Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency (ESA), docked with the ISS at 6:32 p.m. ET (3:32 p.m. PT).
A couple of hours later the crew entered the ISS through the hatch and greeted the station’s current inhabitants, NASA’s Mark Vande Hei along with Roscosmos’ Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov.
Below are the main highlights of the final moments of the Crew Dragon’s voyage to the ISS, which is in orbit 250 miles above Earth. For highlights of the Crew-3 rocket launch and early stages of the journey, check out this Digital Trends article.
First up, an awesome view of the spacecraft with Earth far below, captured by a camera on the space station:
📺 @Space_Station update: coverage resumed on #ESAwebTV2 of #Crew3's journey, with docking now expected around 23:32 GMT/00:32 CET this evening.
👉 https://t.co/t81kpLQk56#CosmicKiss😘 pic.twitter.com/nniuZaWHuI— European Space Agency (@esa) November 11, 2021
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer sends a message from Crew Dragon Endurance as the four astronauts approach the ISS:
Crew-3 checks in after catching sight of the @space_station ahead of docking, now targeted for 6:33 p.m. EST pic.twitter.com/Po532uBhc4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2021
An amazing view of the Crew Dragon as it nears the ISS:
Some nice views of #Crew3 #CrewDragon coming in, as it approaches the @Space_Station. Docking expected 23:32 GMT/00:32 CET. Watch live on #NASAtv 👉https://t.co/muuLbzBZtz #CosmicKiss pic.twitter.com/txVyWL6gRx
— European Space Agency (@esa) November 11, 2021
The view from the Crew Dragon looking toward the space station’s docking ring, captured moments before the spacecraft and the ISS linked together:
View looking the 'other way', from @SpaceX #CrewDragon of the @Space_Station and docking ring, at a distance of 5 m. pic.twitter.com/xtigUaxZCO
— European Space Agency (@esa) November 11, 2021
The Crew-3 astronauts celebrate as the Crew Dragon docks with the space station:
The #CrewDragon spacecraft carrying ESA astronaut @astro_matthias and his NASA colleagues docked at the @Space_Station at 23:32 GMT, 11 November (00:32 CET, 12 November), marking the official start of Matthias's #CosmicKiss mission 👉 https://t.co/gfOe0vcnTK pic.twitter.com/uHPsV4iKf2
— European Space Agency (@esa) November 11, 2021
A couple of hours later, with all of the safety checks and pressurization procedures complete, the astronauts floated into the International Space Station:
Four new astronauts through the hatch and seven crewmembers total on the @Space_Station!
After almost exactly a day from launch, #Crew3 is aboard the orbiting laboratory. pic.twitter.com/QJoBUsJcsj
— NASA (@NASA) November 12, 2021
SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission, operated in partnership with NASA, is the third operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft and the fourth crewed orbital flight following the first one using the SpaceX vehicle last summer. This mission also takes the number of people visiting space to more than 600, with ESA’s Matthias Maurer officially the 600th person to achieve the feat. Three of the four Crew-3 astronauts are in space for the first time, with only Tom Marshburn having been before.
