October 2, 2026
Yesterday, Thursday, four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station after a flight that lasted only eight hours, marking the fastest American arrival to the orbiting laboratory, according to what was announced by the Associated Press.
The mission, which was launched for the US space agency NASA through SpaceX, was headed by astronaut Jessica Watkins, making her name as the first black woman of African descent to lead a crew into orbit. This is the second trip for Watkins, a geologist who previously worked with the Curiosity rover on Mars, to the station after her stay there in 2022. Watkins said via radio upon her arrival: “Thank you for this wonderful trip.”
The launch came after a three-week delay during which a leaking fuel system in the Dragon capsule was repaired, while heavy clouds on Thursday morning threatened to stop the countdown, before the sky cleared and cleared enough to allow the launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
In addition to Watkins, the crew includes three astronauts who are experiencing space travel for the first time: Luke Delaney from NASA, a former US Marine, Joshua Kutric from Canada, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Sergei Tetryatnikov from Russia, a former diver.
The new crew will replace four other astronauts who have been residing in the orbital laboratory since last February, and their current mission will continue for six months. This is the fourteenth mission flight in which SpaceX has launched a crew for NASA, including the test flight that took place in 2020.
