American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Benken have entered the International Space Station (ISS).
Their Dragon Capsule, operated and provided by a private SpaceX company, was attached to the space station at a distance of 422 kilometers from China. After waiting a while to check for leaks, pressure and temperature, they landed at the station to join the Russian and American teams already on the ISS.
Hurley and Benken were launched from Florida on Saturday. This is the first time astronauts have been sent from American soil since NASA's shuttle system shut down nine years ago.
NASA has been using Russian rockets for manned space travel since the shuttles ceased operations in 2011. Through this mission, NASA has signaled the beginning of a new era of commercial leasing, not its own spacecraft. NASA will no longer buy or operate US spacecraft to and from the space center.
Only California-based companies like SpaceX of Heathron, led by billionaire Elon Musk, do such work. The connection to the Dragon ISS was confirmed on Sunday at 14:16 GMT. The SpaceX Falcon reached the space center 19 hours after it was launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
The process of connecting two vehicles is fully automated; Hurley and Bencon didn't have to be involved - but they did practice. The door between Dragon and ISS opened at 17:02 GMT. Hurley and Benken floated to meet ISS commanders and NASA astronauts, as well as Russian astronauts.
"We're happy to be here and now the commander here will put us to work. And, hopefully we'll get used to it and not spoil a lot," said Doug Hurley.
Another astronaut, Bob Banksy, said they had rested well and were ready for more work. "We slept well for seven hours or so," he said in a radio contact with Texas-based Mission Control.
"The first night is always a little challenging, but the dragon was Kaida's vehicle, and the air flow was good and the night was great. We're eager to be in Earth orbit again."
Earlier, the space trip was scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to bad weather. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein congratulated them both on their good work: "The whole world has seen this mission and we are very proud of what you have done for our country and especially for inspiring the whole world."
The SpaceX company last year launched an unmanned spacecraft in an automated process, but this is the first manned spaceflight.
During the mission, Hurley and Benken's job is to inspect the entire system and inform the engineers about it. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
During that time, he became a member of the current ISS Expedition 63 team and participated in daily activities there. Hurley and Benken were selected in 2000 and have been to space twice before.
ISS commander Chris Cassidy joked that they had missed the opportunity to clean up on Saturday as they arrived on Sunday.
The spacecraft Dragon Capsule carrying two American astronauts has entered the space station.
The spacecraft, including US astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Banks, has entered the International Space Station (ISS), according to US media reports.
The US space agency NASA has launched the spacecraft in collaboration with the private company SpaceX.
Dragon Capsule is provided by SpaceX and is being operated by him. The spacecraft entered the space station 422 kilometers above China.
After waiting a while to check for leaks, pressure and temperature, passengers in the Dragon capsule entered the station to join the Russian and US teams already on the ISS.
The Dragon Capsule spacecraft, including Hurley and Benken, was launched from Florida, USA last Saturday night.
NASA shut down its space shuttle system nine years ago. This is the first time an astronaut has been sent from American soil since then.
Through this mission, NASA has ushered in a new era of renting spacecraft from the commercial sector, not its own spacecraft.
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