SpaceX Crew-3 Endurance Bringing Astronauts Finally Docks At International Space Station

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts finally arrived at the International Space Station to start its six-month stay at the modular spacecraft with the help of NASA.

Crew-3 is the fourth mission in cooperation between SpaceX and NASA to undertake regular flights to the International Space Station to keep the 21-year-old space station crewed. CNN said that NASA has requested more control over the spacecraft. After the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, Russia was the only country capable of providing ISS transportation.

The astronauts buckled into their Crew Dragon capsule as it sat atop one of SpaceX's 200-foot-tall Falcon 9 rockets on a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday night. Science Times said the rocket launched shortly after 9 p.m. ET, propelling the capsule into orbit before it began its own orbital maneuvering and approaching the ISS.

(Photo : Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - APRIL 23: In this handout provided by NASA, Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk watches the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the balcony of Operations Support Building II carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 mission with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard on April 23, 2021 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide launched at 5:49 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost.

Crew-3 Mission Successfully Arrives at the International Space Station

From the capsule, Crew-3 captain Raja Chari said that docking is complete and that the crew is pleased to be aboard the ISS. The New York Times said he and his other astronauts were seated side by side in their seats.

The door opened over two hours later, and the cheerful crew members, each wearing blue jumpsuits, entered the space station one by one. They're scheduled to stay in orbit until April 2022.

Endurance has arrived at the hold point 20 meters from the @Space_Station. #Crew3 and ground teams are evaluating the lighting before giving a final "go" for docking. pic.twitter.com/1TYmDtSqaf
— NASA (@NASA) November 11, 2021

NASA's official Twitter account has posted a video of the four Crew-3 mission members arriving at the International Space Station. They joined three other astronauts already aboard the station, two Russians and a NASA astronaut on a nearly year-long mission. With this, the ISS now has a total of seven crew members.

Chari, two other NASA astronauts - Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn - and a German astronaut Matthias Maurer representing the European Space Agency, make up the Team-3 crew.

ALSO READ: SpaceX Crew-3 Launch: Fireball From Falcon 9 Lights Up North Carolina Night Sky

Marshburn pinned official NASA astronaut badges to the uniforms of Chari, Barron, and Maurer shortly after boarding. Marshburn has previously served as an astronaut while the other three are making their first visits to space.

Space.com said the four astronauts will "work on more than 200 research experiments and undertake spacewalks during their tenure at the station, which orbits an average of 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth.

Crew-4, SpaceX's next crewed trip to the International Space Station, is scheduled to launch in April 2022.

Four new astronauts through the hatch and seven crewmembers total on the @Space_Station!

After almost exactly a day from launch, #Crew3 is aboard the orbiting laboratory. pic.twitter.com/QJoBUsJcsj
— NASA (@NASA) November 12, 2021

Crew-3 Mission Delays

The Crew-3 mission was originally scheduled to launch on October 31. The first postponement occurred when the launch date was moved to November 3 owing to adverse weather on the original launch date.

According to Science Times, the Crew-3 mission was subsequently delayed for the second time when the launch date was pushed back to November 6. Everyone made adjustments due to a minor medical issue with one of the mission's four astronauts.

The third postponement occurred when the launch date was postponed to November 8. The mission was once again delayed by NASA and SpaceX owing to bad weather conditions, as was the case with the initial postponement.

Due to the arrival of the Crew-2 mission from the International Space Station, Science Times said the fourth and final alteration pushed the launch date from November 8 to November 10.