The SpaceX crew set a record by reaching the ISS in less than 8 hours

Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday after an eight-hour flight that set a speed record for the United States and also made history with the first Black woman to lead a crew during orbital insertion. The Guardian reports, writes UNN.

Details

SpaceX launched the spacecraft with commander Jessica Watkins and her crew on behalf of NASA after a three-week delay caused by the need to fix a leak in the Dragon capsule’s fuel system. Thick clouds threatened to disrupt the countdown throughout the morning, but the skies eventually cleared enough to allow a safe launch from Cape Canaveral at 11:10 (15:10 GMT).

Seven hours and 55 minutes later, the SpaceX Dragon "Grace" capsule docked with an ISS port, setting a record for the fastest flight by an American spacecraft to the station.

During a live broadcast on NASA TV, the capsule could be seen smoothly approaching the stationary ISS, while both spacecraft sped through space at about 17,500 mph (28,100 km/h).

The newcomers—Americans Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kootrick, and Russian Sergei Teteryatnikov—floated into the space station through the pressurized transfer compartment and spoke with colleagues on Earth late Thursday evening.

The duration of the flight largely depends on the distance between the ISS and the spacecraft at the time of launch. The previous crew to launch from US territory took more than 30 hours to reach the station.

During the late-morning launch, Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew during orbital insertion. Watkins, a geologist who worked with NASA’s Curiosity rover ten years ago, traveled to the space station for the second time after an extended stay there in 2022.

Although they will spend six months aboard the ISS, the journey to the station was the fastest not only for Elon Musk’s company but also for any American organization, including NASA.

This was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting the 2020 test flight. The Crew-13 designation on the mission patch pays tribute to "Apollo 13"—the dramatic 1970 lunar mission that ended with the astronauts’ safe return.

Three hours after the Crew-13 launch, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket from California carrying more than 100 small satellites. Another Falcon rocket was scheduled to launch late Thursday evening from Florida, carrying a secret satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. All of this is taking place in the same week that the company’s giant Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time.

SpaceX conducted a classified launch for the U.S. Space Force11.09.26, 02:55 • 4442 views