Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on board the Crew Dragon has successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).
To be exact, what scientists call the “soft capture” stage, where the spacecraft makes physical contact with the ISS has been made.
Crew Dragon is now going through the “hard capture” stage, which involves creating an air-locked hallway so that the astronauts can safely exit the spacecraft and become the first civilian astronauts to step food into the ISS.point 453 |
Three astronauts – one American and two Russian – are waiting for the duo on the ISS.point 81 | 1
The estimated completion time for the current stage is 12:30pm Eastern time. The soft capture happened on 10:16am ET according to the CNN. It was the first physical contact that the spacecraft made in 19 hours after its historic and widely lauded launch from Kennedy Space Center.
The process is known to be fully automatic, although the two astronauts may intervene and take over if manual control is needed for whatever reason. Scientists expect that the two astronauts will safely set foot on the ISS as the docking procedure is safe albeit slow.
One of the crew members thanked the control center and everyone that was involved in this historic process of a civil space launch. He said that it was an honor for him to play even a small role in this project.
When the two astronauts set foot into the ISS, it will be the first time that a private spacecraft successfully managed to send passengers to the ISS in its 20 years history.
The praises and goodwill poured in from around the world. NASA’s mission control congratulated everyone by saying that they have all just witnessed a historic moment. SpaceX mission control praised the astronauts for their accomplishment, while the American astronaut already on the ISS rang bells to welcome the newcomers.
The launch was a historic and memorable moment for many that were involved. For NASA, it was the first time that they launched a spacecraft with astronauts on American soil in 9 years.
For SpaceX, owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, they have become the first private enterprise to successfully launch a space orbit. Musk said after the launch that the launch will be remembered as the first step in constructing a human civilization on Mars.
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