The first non-government, privately-funded crew docked at space station Saturday for NASA-sanctioned research.
Four civilians in a chartered SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station early Saturday, kicking off the first NASA-sanctioned, commercial visit to the lab complex by a private company. from the Kennedy Space Center, the Axiom-1 Crew Dragon — Endeavour — executed an automated 20-hour rendezvous, catching up with the space station and moving in for docking at the lab’s forward Harmony module at 8:29 a.m. EDT. The linkup was delayed about 45 minutes because of a video configuration problem on the space station, but the Crew Dragon had no problems and the final push to docking was picture perfect. “I hope you enjoyed the extra half orbit in Dragon, or at least found it memorable,” a SpaceX flight controller radioed. “Welcome to the International Space Station.” After extended leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal, hatches were opened and the Axiom-1 crew members — retired astronaut and mission commander Michael Lopéz-Alegría, real estate executive Larry Connor, Canadian investor Mark Pathy and Israeli Eytan Stibbe — floated into the station. Welcoming their new crewmates with hugs and handshakes were station commander Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and German astronaut Matthias Maurer, another Crew Dragon last November.
