This screen grab taken from the NASA live feed shows ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide aboard the SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft after docking at the International Space Station, on April 24. A recycled SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with four astronauts aboard, was speeding on its way to the International Space Station, where the spacecraft is set to dock early Saturday.
“Hard capture complete, welcome Crew-2,” said US astronaut Shannon Walker, current commander of the ISS. It was the first time a capsule has been reused for crewed spaceflight and the mission also featured a reused rocket, accomplishing key cost-saving goals of NASA’s partnerships with private industry.
The arrival of the latest space quartet — which also includes American Megan McArthur and Japan’s Akikho Hoshide — will bring the number of people on the station to 11.The mission is also a major milestone for Europe, which named the mission “Alpha” after the star system Alpha Centauri. ESA will also be a key partner to the United States in the Artemis program to return to the Moon, providing the power and propulsion component for the Orion spacecraft, and critical elements of a planned lunar orbital station called Gateway.The Crew-2 team has around 100 experiments in the diary during their six-month mission.