NEW YORK, Unites States (US): A new crew was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, bringing four astronauts to the orbiter following a recent emergency on board, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5.15 am (GMT 1015) from Cape Canaveral in Florida with the crew in SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
For the first time in the history of the ISS, NASA brought back a crew early due to medical problems last month, leaving the station short of one crew member.
The incoming crew comprises NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Mier, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot from France.
This is the first flight to the ISS for Hathaway and Adenot and the second for Meir and Fedyaev.
They are expected to arrive at the station on Saturday, where they will conduct research for about eight months.
In mid-January, US astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov were returned to Earth early due to a medical issue.
Further details about the issue and which crew member it affected have not been disclosed.
The early departure meant that only NASA astronaut Christopher Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Mikayev and Sergei Kud-Svertchkov remained on the station over the past few weeks – one short of a full crew.
International crews have been living and conducting research on board the space station continuously for around 25 years.
The ISS is scheduled to cease operations in 2030 and undergo a controlled de-orbit and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in early 2031. – BERNAMA-dpa
