SpaceX mission successfully reaches International Space Station

A SpaceX mission with four astronauts docked at the International Space Station on Thursday evening.

The Crew Drag Spacecraft, carrying astronauts for the SpaceX Crew-3 Mission, arrived at the space station at 6:32 p.m., according to NASA.

After linking up to the space station’s Harmony Module, the astronauts will begin conducting standard leak checks and pressurization ahead of hatch opening, which is scheduled for roughly 8:10 p.m.

Soft capture confirmed!

At 6:32pm ET (23:32 UTC), the @SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance arrived at the @Space_Station while flying 263 miles over the Caribbean. Next up for #Crew3? Driving 12 hooks to complete docking. pic.twitter.com/Mf6wYHCl3f

— NASA (@NASA) November 11, 2021

The Crew-3 Mission took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:04 p.m. on Wednesday. 

The launch was initially set for late last month, but had been delayed twice due to bad weather and a medical issue with one of the crew members. 

The crew — which includes NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronauts Matthias Maurer — will now spend six months in space conducting scientific experiments.

The mission is the third crew rotation aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the fourth crewed flight to take place as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It’s the fifth human spaceflight for SpaceX since May 2020.  

The flight also marks a historic moment because, with its four astronauts added to the tally, 600 people have now launched into space.