The first private team of astronauts sent to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived safely at the orbiting research platform on Saturday to begin a week-long scientific mission hailed as a milestone in commercial space flight.
The arrival came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup Axiom Space Inc blasted off Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX-launched Falcon 9 rocket.
Final approach was delayed by a technical glitch that disrupted a video feed used to monitor the capsule’s encounter with the ISS. The problem forced the Crew Dragon to pause and hold its position 20 meters from the station for about 45 minutes while mission control fixed the problem.
Once docking was achieved, the sealed passageway between the space station and crew capsule was expected to take an additional two hours to pressurize and check for leaks before the hatches could be opened, allowing newly arrived astronauts arrivals climb aboard the ISS.
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