Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP)-Four astronauts turned to the International Space Station on Sunday, where they will oversee the arrival of two new rocketships during their half-year tenure.
SpaceX’s Falcon Rocket took NASA’s Matthew Dominic, Michael Barrett and Zeenat Apps and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin from the Kennedy Space Center.
Astronauts should reach orbiting lab on Tuesday. They will replace a crew from America, Denmark, Japan and Russia, who have been there since August.
“When are you already getting here?” Space station commander Andreas Mogenson asked through X, in the east TwitterAfter three days of delay due to high air. Spacex Launch Control called it “fashionable late”.
There was almost another stay on Sunday night. A small crack in the seal of the SpaceX capsule’s hatch inspired the last -minute shrew of the reviews, but was considered safe for the entire mission.
The six -month stay of the new crew includes the arrival of two rocketships ordered by NASA. The new Starlineer capsule of Boeing with Test pilots is scheduled to be held in late April. After a month or two, the dream chaser of the Sierra space, a mini shuttle, should come. This is to give cargo at the station, but not the passengers yet.
The apps were originally assigned to blow the Boeing’s Starlineer, which collided with problems and stalled. NASA finally turned it to SpaceX.
Referring to the song Billy Joel, he said, “I am currently in a state in New York, it’s amazing.”
Apps, which is from Syrakuse, NY, is the second black woman assigned to a long station mission. She said before the flight that she is proud to be a role model especially for black girls, showing that the spaceflight is “an option for them, that it is not only for other people.”
An engineer, he worked for Ford Motor Company and CIA before becoming an astronaut in 2009. Apps should have launched a Russian rocket to the space station in 2018, but was replaced for publicly disclosed reasons.
In addition, the space has new dominic, a naval pilot and a former Russian military officer GraBenkin.
Barrett, a doctor of his third mission, is the oldest full -time astronaut that fly in space. He turned 65 in April.
“It is like a roller coaster ride with a group of really excited teenagers,” the barrett said after reaching the classroom. For his age, he said before the flight, “As long as we stay healthy and fit and fit and engaged, we are good to fly.”
Flight controllers are monitoring the growing cabin leakage on the edge of Russia of Space Station. Joel Montalbano, the manager of NASA’s program, said the leakage has doubled in the last few weeks and the region has been sealed. He insisted that there is no effect on the station operation or the safety of the crew.
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