Astronauts from US, Denmark, Japan and Russia will reach ISS on Sunday and say ‘we’re a united team with a common mission’
Four astronauts from four countries rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday.
They should reach the orbiting lab in their SpaceX capsule on Sunday, replacing four astronauts who have been living there since March.
A Nasa astronaut was joined on the predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center by fliers from Denmark, Japan and Russia. They clasped one another’s gloved hands upon reaching orbit.
It was the first US launch in which every spacecraft seat was occupied by a different country – until now, Nasa had always included two or three of its own on its SpaceX taxi flights. A fluke in timing led to the assignments, officials said.
“We’re a united team with a common mission,” Nasa’s Jasmin Moghbeli radioed from orbit. Nasa’s Ken Bowersox, space operations mission chief, added: “Boy, what a beautiful launch … and with four international crew members, really an exciting thing to see.”
Moghbeli, a US marine pilot serving as commander, is joined on the six-month mission by the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Konstantin Borisov.
