SpaceX Capsule Reaches ISS

Historic first such 'taxi' ride is complete
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 17, 2020 12:03 AM CST
SpaceX Capsule Reaches ISS
A SpaceX Falcon9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule attached, lift's off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A Sunday Nov. 15, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts are beginning a mission to the international Space Station.   (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

SpaceX’s newly launched capsule with four astronauts arrived Monday at the International Space Station, their new home until spring. The Dragon capsule pulled up and docked late Monday night, following a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the AP reports. The linkup occurred 262 miles above Idaho. “Oh, what a good voice to hear,” space station astronaut Kate Rubins called out when the Dragon's commander, Mike Hopkins, first made radio contact. “We can’t wait to have you on board,” she added after the two spacecraft were latched together.

This is the second astronaut mission for SpaceX. But it’s the first time Elon Musk’s company delivered a crew for a full half-year station stay. The two-pilot test flight earlier this year lasted two months. The three Americans and one Japanese astronaut will remain at the orbiting lab until their replacements arrive on another Dragon in April. And so it will go, with SpaceX—and eventually Boeing—transporting astronauts to and from the station for NASA. This regular taxi service got underway with Sunday night's launch.

(More SpaceX stories.)

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