Astronauts get to ISS after landmark journey

WASHINGTON－NASA astronauts entered the International Space Station on Sunday after a landmark 19-hour journey on the first crewed US spacecraft in nearly a decade, a triumph for SpaceX and private enterprise.

The arrival completed the first leg of the trip, designed to test the capabilities of the Crew Dragon capsule. But the mission will only be declared a success when the astronauts return safely to Earth in a few months' time.

The spaceship's hatch opened at 1:02 pm Eastern Time as Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley carried out final procedures before crossing the threshold about 20 minutes later.

Wearing black polo shirts and khaki pants, they were greeted by fellow US astronaut Chris Cassidy, as well as Russia cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

The five men posed for photos and then NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke to the crew from mission control in Houston.

"Welcome to Bob and Doug," said Bridenstine. "I will tell you the whole world saw this mission, and we are so, so proud of everything you have done for our country."

Hurley replied: "It's great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business and we're just really glad to be on board this magnificent complex."

Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin also offered his congratulations to both NASA and Elon Musk, the boss of the private aerospace company SpaceX that built the Crew Dragon capsule.

The capsule spent 19 hours chasing down the station at speeds of up to 28,000 kilometers per hour, before carefully aligning to its target and slowing to a crawl for the delicate docking procedure, which took place over northern China.

During their stay, Behnken and Hurley will perform more checks on the capsule to certify its readiness as the United States transitions to using the commercial sector for rides to the ISS.

The space agency has had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets ever since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011－with 2015 the original target for a replacement program.

The United States has paid SpaceX and aerospace giant Boeing a total of about $7 billion for their "space taxi" contracts.

But Boeing's program has floundered badly after a failed test run late last year, which left SpaceX, a company founded only in 2002, as clear front-runner.

The launch came as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, and as the US faces nationwide protests after a black man died in Minneapolis while being arrested by a white police officer.

Speaking to Bridenstine, Hurley said he hoped the mission would inspire young people in the US.

"This was just one effort that we can show for the ages in this dark time that we've had over the past several months to kind of inspire, especially the young people in the United States, to reach for these lofty goals," he said.

SpaceX's two-stage Falcon 9 rocket began its voyage on Saturday, blasting off flawlessly in a cloud of bright orange flames and smoke from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

US-Russia cooperation

While Russia saluted the US, it also stressed on Sunday it was puzzled by the frenzy unleashed by what many hailed as the dawn of a new era.

"We don't really understand the hysteria sparked by the successful launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft," Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko said.

US-Russia cooperation is not expected to end once Crew Dragon goes into service.

NASA still plans to use Soyuz rockets to send some astronauts into space, with each seat costing around $80 million.

The US, meanwhile, hopes to revive human space exploration, which has not risen to the expectations of the early space era.

The idea of a crewed mission to Mars has been mooted since the 1950s, and NASA has commissioned numerous studies that have never gotten off the ground.

The US now plans to return to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis program, establishing a launchpad to the Red Planet by the 2030s.

Agencies - Xinhua