Four new astronauts head to the International Space Station for a 6-month stay

4 astronauts headed to the Worldwide House Station on Sunday the place they may oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships throughout their half-year stint.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off from Kennedy House Heart, carrying NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin.

The astronauts ought to attain the orbiting lab on Tuesday. They are going to substitute a crew from the U.S., Denmark, Japan and Russia, who’ve been there since August.

“When are you getting right here already?” space station commander Andreas Mogensen requested through X, previously Twitter, after three days of delay as a consequence of excessive wind. SpaceX Launch Management termed it “fashionably late.”

There was virtually one other postponement Sunday night time. A small crack within the seal of the SpaceX capsule’s hatch prompted a last-minute flurry of evaluations, nevertheless it was deemed protected for the entire mission.

The brand new crew’s six-month keep contains the arrival of two rocketships ordered by NASA. Boeing’s new Starliner capsule with test pilots is due in late April. A month or two later, Sierra House’s Dream Chaser, a mini shuttle, ought to arrive. It’s for delivering cargo to the station, however not passengers but.

Epps was initially assigned to fly Boeing’s Starliner, which received slowed down with issues and stalled. NASA lastly switched her to SpaceX.

“I’m in a New York way of thinking proper now, it’s wonderful,” she stated upon reaching orbit, referring to the Billy Joel tune.

Epps, who’s from Syracuse, N.Y., is the second Black girl assigned to a protracted station mission. She stated earlier than the flight that she is very proud to be a role model for Black ladies, demonstrating that spaceflight “is an choice for them, that this isn’t only for different folks.”

An engineer, she labored for Ford Motor Co. and the CIA earlier than changing into an astronaut in 2009. Epps ought to have launched to the space station on a Russian rocket in 2018, however was changed for causes by no means publicly disclosed.

Additionally new to space are Dominick, a Navy pilot, and Grebenkin, a former Russian army officer.

Barratt, a physician on his third mission, is the oldest full-time astronaut to fly in space. He turns 65 in April.

“It is sort of like a curler coaster experience with a bunch of actually excited youngsters,” Barratt stated after reaching orbit. As for his age, he stated earlier than the flight, “So long as we keep wholesome and match and engaged, we’re good to fly.”

Flight controllers are monitoring a rising cabin leak on Russia’s facet of the space station. The leak has doubled in dimension prior to now few weeks and the realm has been sealed off, NASA program supervisor Joel Montalbano stated. He burdened there isn’t any affect to station operations or crew security.

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