ISS Hosting Massive Crew Compliment of 11 Astronauts

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon have arrived at the International Space Station.

Crew-2 joins Expedition 65 crew of crew of Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins,  Victor Glover, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, as well as Soichi Noguchi of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the complex at 5:08 a.m. EDT while the spacecraft were flying 264 miles above the Indian Ocean.

Following Crew Dragon’s link up to the Harmony module, the astronauts aboard the Endeavour and the space station will conducted standard leak checks and pressurization between the spacecraft in preparation for hatch opening.

The crew members first opened the hatch between the space station and the pressurized mating adapter at 7:05 a.m. EDT, Saturday, then opened the hatch to Crew Dragon.

Leadership from NASA, ESA and JAXA greeted the crew on station. The welcome ceremony included Steve Jurczyk, acting NASA administrator; Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters; Hiroshi Yamakawa, president, JAXA; and Josef Aschbacher, director general, ESA.

For a short time, the number of crew on the space station has increased to 11 people -- at least until Crew-1 astronauts Walker, Hopkins, Glover, and Noguchi return to Earth in just a few days.

FMI: http://www.nasa.gov/crew-2