SpaceX delivered a recent crew to the International Space Station on Saturday (August 2, 2025), making the journey in a fast 15 hours.
The four U.S., Russian and Japanese astronauts pulled up of their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. They will spend at the least six months on the orbiting lab, swapping locations with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will convey these four again as early as Wednesday (August 6, 2025).
This picture constructed from video supplied by NASA and SpaceX exhibits the docked SpaceX capsule to the International Space Station Saturday August 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Moving in are NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov — every of whom had been initially assigned to different missions. “Hello, space station!” Fincke radioed as quickly because the capsule docked excessive above the South Pacific.
Ms. Cardman and one other astronaut had been pulled from a SpaceX flight final 12 months to make room for NASA’s two caught astronauts, Boeing Starliner take a look at pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose house station keep went from one week to greater than 9 months. Fincke and Yui had been coaching for the subsequent Starliner mission. But with Starliner grounded by thruster and different issues till 2026, the 2 switched to SpaceX.
Mr. Platonov was bumped from the Soyuz launch lineup a few years in the past due to an undisclosed sickness.
Their arrival briefly places the house station inhabitants at 11. The astronauts greeting them had chilly drinks and scorching meals ready for them.
While their taxi flight was speedy by U.S. requirements, the Russians maintain the document for the quickest journey to the house station — a lightning-fast three hours.
