A new team of astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday following a quick 15-hour journey aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
Launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the multinational crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. The group docked with the orbiting lab while flying high above the South Pacific, ready to begin a mission expected to last at least six months.
Upon arrival, Fincke greeted the station with an enthusiastic, “Hello, space station!” over the radio. Their mission involves replacing four crew members who have been aboard the ISS since March. That group is expected to return to Earth as early as Wednesday via another SpaceX capsule.
Each member of the newly arrived team had originally been slated for different assignments. Cardman was initially scheduled to fly on a SpaceX mission last year but was reassigned after NASA made room for two astronauts stuck aboard the Boeing Starliner — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — whose one-week mission unexpectedly stretched to over nine months due to ongoing technical issues.
Fincke and Yui had both been preparing for an upcoming Starliner flight, but with that spacecraft grounded until at least 2026 due to thruster malfunctions and other complications, they were moved to the current SpaceX mission. Meanwhile, Platonov had been taken off a previous Soyuz flight roster because of an undisclosed medical issue.
Their arrival boosts the ISS population to 11 astronauts temporarily.
Speaking from orbit, Cardman described the approach as unforgettable. “It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time,” she said.
Although this U.S. mission made the trip in an impressive 15 hours, Russia still holds the record for the fastest journey to the ISS, completing one mission in just three hours.
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