SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft docks with the International Space Station

The hatch for the Endeavor capsule is open as astronauts prepare to board the ISS
By
Christian Davenport

Nearly 24 hours after its on-time liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station, the first goal of its journey.

In a delicate dance, the spacecraft aligned itself with one of the station’s docking ports and parked itself. The maneuvers were directed completely by the spacecraft’s computers. Controllers on the ground and the astronauts on board the capsule and the station monitored closely, but the computers were in control.

The two crafts were then locked together by a dozen hooks. The astronauts will check to ensure that the seal between spacecraft and station is tight and that the air pressure inside the spacecraft and the station is the same. Then they’ll open the hatch and cross into the station.

Here’s what to know:

For the third time in a year, SpaceX on Friday launched astronauts to the station.
The astronauts were due to dock with the station at 5:10 a.m. but arrived two minutes early. The astronauts are expected to enter the station about two and a half hours later.
The launch was initially postponed after high winds along the flight path.
It took the Dragon spacecraft almost 24 hours to catch up to the space station, which is traveling 17,500 mph at an altitude of about 240 miles.
The astronauts are expected to stay aboard the station for approximately six months. They are Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Americans who work for NASA; Thomas Pesquet of France from the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Space Exploration Agency. Hoshide will assume command of the space station next week when the current commander, NASA astronaut Col. Michael Hopkins, returns to Earth.

In this image made from NASA TV, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, left, approaches to the international space station, Saturday, April 24, 2021. The recycled SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, the third high-flying taxi ride in less than a year for Elon Musk's company. (AP)

As Crew-2 arrives, Crew-1 prepares to go home
By Christian Davenport

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft -- the same capsule that docked Saturday at the International Space Station -- is shown landing with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. It was the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first time a private company has ferried people from orbit. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

When NASA started its “commercial crew” program, the plan was to create a regular transportation system to the International Space Station, with multiple flights a year, as had existed during the space shuttle program.

Now, once again, NASA has it. SpaceX has flown three human spaceflight missions to the station. The latest, known as Crew-2, docked Saturday morning. Now that those four astronauts have arrived, the Crew-1 astronauts, who arrived at the station in November, are preparing to fly home after a six-month stay.

First, they’ll hand over operation of the station to their new crew mates, helping them get up to speed with everything that’s happening. Then on Wednesday, the Crew-1 astronauts are scheduled to get back into their spacecraft for the fiery journey home through Earth’s atmosphere. If all goes well, the crew, comprised of NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Victor Glover as well as Japan’s Soichi Noguchi, would undock from the station at about 5 a.m. and splashdown off the coast of Florida at about 12:35 p.m.

SpaceX’s next mission to the station, Crew-3, is scheduled for the fall.

NASA video

https://youtu.be/21X5lGlDOfg