SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station early Friday morning, carrying two American astronauts, a Russian and an Emirati astronaut, to start a six-month science mission. The spacecraft, which is flying autonomously and is called Endeavor, has docked. Nearly 25 hours after its launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Details of what happened prior to docking
- Flight controllers in California scrambled to come up with a software fix, the same problem that surfaced shortly after takeoff on Thursday.
- Although all 12 hooks on the pod seem fine, the switch on one of them is broken. SpaceX's mission control room urged patience, telling astronauts they could wait up to two hours.
- “The teams are working to rectify this quickly,” she told them over the walkie-talkie.
- Minutes later, the new software commands were relayed, and the astronauts received the go-ahead to proceed with final approach and docking. In the end, docking happened an hour late as the capsule and space station soared 420 kilometers above the coast of Somalia.
- It was expected to be an hour before the gates opened, which is the standard time for proper pressure.
- "Now, let's work on opening that gate so you can hug your fellow crew members," NASA's Mission Control Room said from Houston.
And in NASA's live broadcast of the launch via the Internet, the docking was confirmed, as the International Space Station and the capsule flew at a speed of 28,164 kilometers per hour, 240 kilometers above the Earth's surface off the coast of East Africa.
The four-member team was tasked with conducting more than 200 scientific and technological experiments aboard the space station, including experiments on growing human cells in space and controlling combustible materials in microgravity.
The US space agency said some of the research will help pave the way for long-duration human missions to the moon and more in the future as part of NASA's Artemis program, the successor to the Apollo mission.
The International Space Station crew is responsible for performing maintenance and repairs aboard the station and preparing for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads.
The "Crow 6" mission includes Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi (41 years old), who is the second Emirati to ascend into space and the first Emirati to launch from American soil to the International Space Station as part of a team on a long journey.
Upon arrival, the crew prepared to perform a series of standard leak checks and pressure adjustments in the passage between the capsule and the International Space Station before they could hatch to enter the space station.
Crew 6 will be greeted aboard the International Space Station by 7 astronauts currently on the station, who are 3 NASA crew members, including Commander Nicole Onabu Mann, the first Native American woman to ascend into space, along with three Russians and an astronaut.
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