Replacements arrive at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday for a six-month mission after overcoming trouble with one of the capsule’s docking hooks.
The SpaceX capsule and its four astronauts had to wait 65 feet away from the orbiting lab as flight controllers in California scrambled to devise a software fix.
It’s the same problem that cropped up shortly after Thursday’s liftoff. Although all 12 hooks on the capsule appeared fine, the switch for one of them malfunctioned. SpaceX Mission Control urged patience, telling the U.S., Russian and Emerati astronauts they could stay in the holding pattern for up to two hours.
Once new software commands were relayed, the astronauts got the go-ahead, with the linkup occurring an hour late as the capsule and space station soared 260 miles above Somalia.
“After a brief scenic detour, welcome to the International Space Station,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.
The new arrivals include the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan al-Neyadi, the first astronaut from the Arab world to spend an extended time in space. He is the second person from the UAE to rocket into orbit.
“I can’t be happier than this, seeing old friends in space, gathering as a big family. This is the essence of space exploration,” al-Neyadi said upon entering the station. “The UAE is taking a great step toward pushing the boundaries of exploration.”
Also flying up were NASA’s Stephen Bowen, a retired Navy submariner who made three space shuttle flights; Warren “Woody” Hoburg, a space newcomer and former research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Andrei Fedyaev, a space rookie who’s retired from the Russian Air Force.
The space station will be home to 11 people for the next week. The newcomers will replace two NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut who have been on the station since October and will return in their own SpaceX capsule next week.