A SpaceX spacecraft carrying four astronauts reached the International Space Station in less than eight hours on Thursday. The journey took seven hours and 55 minutes, setting a new US speed record for the fastest trip to the space station. The mission also made history as Nasa astronaut Jessica Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a space crew into orbit.
Commander Jessica Watkins, a geologist making her second trip to the station, led a team of three first-time space travelers: American Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk, and Russian Sergey Teteryatnikov. Their SpaceX Dragon capsule, named Grace, launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida after a three-week delay to repair a fuel system leak.
Spacecraft travel times depend on the positions of the space station and the spacecraft at launch. While some recent missions have taken more than 30 hours, this flight was the fastest journey to the station by any American spacecraft. The four astronauts will spend six months living and working at the orbiting laboratory.
During the six-month mission, Canadian astronaut Kutryk will experience another major milestone: his wife is expected to give birth to their third child in late November. Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency plan to support his family and keep him connected so he can share the special moment from orbit.