The flight, operated by tycoon Elon Musk’s private aerospace company, reached its destination 21 hours after taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For three American NASA astronauts, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer, the moment they first saw the space station 30 kilometers away was breathtaking.
“Floating in space and shining like a diamond“- wrote the German astronaut Matthias Maurer.”We are all very excited“- he added with reference to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
The four are part of the Crew-3 mission and will replace the crew that returned to Earth on Monday, along with the American astronaut and the two Russians remaining aboard the EEI.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see these smiling faces“- said NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hey, hugging the newcomers.
“Each of us, all seven, are friends, and over time we will become even more friends.“he ruled.
Wande Hey and one of the two Russians on board are in the middle of a one-year mission, due to end in March 2022.
What will happen
This is the third mission to the ISS carried out by the private company SpaceX for NASA.
This is also the third space trip of American Tom Marshburn, who was aboard the Space Shuttle in 2009 and the Soyuz rocket in 2012-2013.
The rest of the astronauts go on a journey for the first time.
As part of the mission, several experiments will be carried out, including observing the effect of diet on the immune system of astronauts during a long stay in space.
The Crew-3 crew will also make a spacewalk to continue installing new solar panels on the ISS.
The space station will also host two tourist missions over the next six months.
Japanese passengers are expected to arrive first aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft later this year. EEI is expected to receive passengers from the Axi-1 mission, hosted by Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX, in February 2022.
