NASA Begins 6th SpaceX Crew Mission Aboard ISS

The Crew Dragon Endeavor mission has docked at the International Space Station, carrying two astronauts from the U.S., one astronaut from Russia and one from the United Arab Emirates who are part of the sixth SpaceX commercial crew rotation program aboard the orbital laboratory.

NASA announced that SpaceX Crew-6, composed of its astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, arrived at the ISS Harmony module on Friday.

“Commercial Crew Program missions like Crew-6 are essential so we can continue to maximize the important research possible only in the space station’s unique microgravity environment,” explained Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.

SpaceX Crew-6 is NASA’s ninth commercial crewed orbital flight and sixth such mission using the Dragon spacecraft. It launched on March 2 and is expected to conclude in autumn this year.

The team’s arrival temporarily increases the number of people on the space station to 11. ISS currently hosts the Expedition 68 crew.