A little over a day after its launch, a SpaceX crew capsule arrives at the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver replacements for the stranded NASA astronauts.
Videos by Suggest
The Associated Press reports that the SpaceX crew members, who represents the U.S., Japan, and Russia, are going to be spending the next few days learning details about the station from NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the ISS since last June.
The astronauts are expected to return to Earth in their own SpaceX capsule later this week.
When they were launched on Boeing’s first astronaut flight, Wilmore and Williams were supposed to be at the ISS for a week. However, the Boeing Starliner capsule encountered problems, causing NASA to have the shuttle come down empty.
The stranded NASA astronauts have been waiting for a SpaceX lift for nine months.
Wilmore greeted the SpaceX team by swinging open the space station hatch and ringing the ship’s bell. He then greeted the team with hugs and handshakes.
“It was a wonderful day,” Williams shared with Mission Control. “Great to see our friends arrive.”
Wilmore and Williams will land on Earth with two other astronauts no earlier than Wednesday.
There are currently 11 astronauts on board the ISS, representing the U.S., Russia, and Japan.
Stranded NASA Astronauts Reveal What They Miss the Most About Being on Earth
During an interview with AccuWeather, stranded NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, spoke about what they missed the most about being on Earth.
“It’s been amazing to see what weather is going on around our planet,” Williams said. “We see a lot of lightning.”
However, Williams admitted she would rather be on the planet observing the weather. “I actually really do miss the weather,” she said. “Part of the reasons I miss my dogs is I get to take them on a walk, and when I take them on a walk, sometimes it’s raining, sometimes it’s windy, sometimes it’s hot. I’m looking forward to feeling all that weather from Earth.”
“You kind of miss the smell of fresh cut grass, and those type of things that just you kind of take for granted,” Wilmore stated. “You don’t have that up here, so [I’m] looking forward to just some of those basics.”
Williams further stated that while she and Wilmore weren’t expecting to be on the ISS for nine months, they are able to do more scientific experiments.
“Of course, you know, we came up here thinking we’d be only here for a little while and do our test flight,” she said. “But then the added time here has allowed us to do all the science experiments. We’ve gone through a lot of holidays together. We’ve learned how to make cakes up here for each other. So it’s been a lot of fun, actually.”