Staff Writer
A multinational team of astronauts has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) following a swift 15-hour journey aboard a SpaceX capsule. The successful launch and docking occurred Saturday, August 3, after liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The newly arrived crew—NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov—will spend at least six months aboard the orbiting laboratory. Their mission includes replacing a team that has been on the ISS since March. SpaceX is scheduled to return the outgoing crew to Earth as early as Wednesday.
This launch marks a unique reshuffling of astronaut assignments due to delays and complications with other spacecraft programs. Cardman was originally scheduled for a SpaceX flight in 2023 but was reassigned to accommodate NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who became stranded during their Boeing Starliner test mission. What was intended to be a one-week visit extended into a nine-month stay due to technical issues.
Fincke and Yui had been in training for the next Starliner mission, but with Boeing’s spacecraft grounded until at least 2026 due to thruster malfunctions and other technical concerns, both astronauts transitioned to the SpaceX flight. Platonov, meanwhile, had been removed from a previous Soyuz launch due to a medical issue but has now resumed active duty with this mission.
With the new crew’s arrival, the International Space Station is temporarily hosting 11 individuals, a number that will decrease once the previous team departs in the coming days.
This mission underscores the growing role of SpaceX in maintaining ISS operations, especially amid ongoing challenges faced by other commercial and international partners.
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