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Four astronauts arrived on the International Space Station on the first flight operated by a private company, and brought a guest with them.
NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Japanese space agency JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi docked with the ISS on Tuesday afternoon.
Kate Rubins of NASA and the Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov were already aboard the ISS and waiting to welcome them.
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Mr. Glover became the first African American astronaut to arrive for an extended stay as a crew member on the station, while Mr. Noguchi became only the third person to leave Earth in three different types of vehicles.
The crew traveled on the Crew Dragon Resilience from Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, which launched Monday using one of the company’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets.
In addition to the four astronauts, the Crew Dragon also transported another special guest, with important work.
A plush of Disney’s Baby Yoda character The Mandalorian traveled aboard with astronauts to indicate when they reached microgravity.
Toys are often used for this very purpose, creating a visual indication of when a boat reaches microgravity for astronauts on board.
When a SpaceX module was used in a demonstration in May, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley rode with a sequined dinosaur plush toy.
The crew will remain aboard the ISS for approximately six months to conduct experiments and spacewalks to upgrade, maintain and repair the space station’s exterior.
Additionally, they will be joined by another crew on a second SpaceX flight in 2021.
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