Crew-6’s dramatic encounter with the space station, which culminated in a docking at 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, was captured in a breathtaking time-lapse video created using NASA footage.
The docking maneuver had been postponed by an hour SpaceX worked a problem with a faulty sensor connected to one of the 12 hooks on Pull on that connects the capsule to the space station. After a software override was uploaded to Endeavour, the capsule was able to connect with the space station.Related: Live updates on SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission for NASA
The time-lapse video demonstrates the high drama of the extraterrestrial operation, showing Endeavor as it approaches the ISS at an altitude of about 260 miles (418 kilometers).
Dominant in the video is the image of Earth, against which Endeavor appears as a slowly growing gray blob, since it was filmed from the ISS. In other images, the Dragon craft is seen from above as it races above the tops of soft white clouds on Earth.
Another part of the video shows the Dragon’s target, the ISS, from the perspective of the spacecraft, no doubt a reassuring sight for Crew-6 astronauts — NASA’s Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, astronaut Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaevsee.
The footage also gives a glimpse of Endeavor as it makes its nail-biting approach to the ISS with Commander Bowen and Pilot Hoburg at the helm. The video also demonstrates how space missions like Crew-6 are the result of massive collaboration, as images show the busy scene at mission control here on Earth.
The hatch between Endeavor and the ISS was opened at 03:45 EST (0845 GMT), after the space station crew performed standard leak checks and after pressurization, according to NASA (opens in new tab).
After this, the Crew-6 astronauts met with current ISS residents, the Expedition 68 crew of NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, as well as Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina.
Cassada, Mann, Kikina and Wakata flew to the ISS on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission in October 2022 and are scheduled to return to the earth in a few days.
During their six-month science mission, the Crew-6 astronauts will participate in a series of cutting-edge science experiments, including tests designed to assess the effects of long-duration space missions on human health.
The team will also use the integrated combustion stand to test fuel combustion in microgravity and assess the effect of changing various test parameters such as airflow, oxygen concentration, pressure and radiation levels.
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