US astronauts reach ISS after fastest flight to date

After the fastest US flight to date, four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. Commander Jessica Watkins' crew arrived at the space station 7 hours and 55 minutes after launch on a SpaceX Dragon space capsule. The flight was not only SpaceX's fastest, but also the fastest journey by a US spacecraft to the ISS. The short flight time was made possible by the position of the space station at the time of launch.

Watkins and her crew took off three weeks later than planned. The reason was repairs to the Dragon capsule's leaky fuel system. This time, densely cloudy skies initially jeopardized the start.

Jessica Watkins' second stay on the ISS

In addition to Watkins, the crew includes NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Teterjatnikov. They are supposed to stay on the ISS for six months. They will replace Crew 12 on board the space station: NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and her colleagues Jack Hathaway from the USA, Andrei Fedyaev from Russia and the French Sophie Adenot have been in space since February. Their return is scheduled for next week at the earliest.

This is Watkins' second stay on the ISS. With the flight, the geologist became the first black woman to lead a crew into Earth orbit. Kutryk is expecting the birth of his third child during his stay. His wife is due to give birth at the end of November.