NASA astronaut from Connecticut arrives at International Space Station
Navy Captain Jack Hathaway, of South Windsor, is part of the four-astronaut crew.
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An astronaut from Connecticut, a member of the SpaceX Crew-12, arrived Saturday at the International Space Station.
Navy Captain Jack Hathaway, of South Windsor, is part of the four-astronaut crew.
The crew launched in a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida Friday morning at 5:15 a.m.
Hathaway will call the ISS home for the next eight months.
Last month’s medical evacuation was NASA’s first in 65 years of human spaceflight. One of four astronauts launched by SpaceX last summer suffered what officials described as a serious health issue, prompting their hasty return. That left only three crew members to keep the place running — one American and two Russians — prompting NASA to pause spacewalks and trim research.
Along with Hathaway, moving in for eight to nine months are NASA’s Jessica Meir, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. Meir, a marine biologist, and Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have lived up there before. During her first station visit in 2019, Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk.
Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is only the second French woman to fly in space. Hathaway is a captain in the U.S. Navy.
A couple of hours later, the hatches swung open and the seven space travelers hugged and exchanged exuberant high-fives. “Let’s get rolling,” Meir said.
NASA has refused to divulge the identity of the astronaut who fell ill in orbit on Jan. 7 or explain what happened, citing medical privacy. The ailing astronaut and three others returned to Earth more than a month sooner than planned. They spent their first night back on Earth at the hospital before returning to Houston.
The space agency said it did not alter its preflight medical checks for their replacements.
AP Wire Services contributed to this report.
