On Saturday, August 2, SpaceX delivered a new crew to the International Space Station. The flight took place from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. There were four astronauts on board from America, Russia, and Japan, who plan to spend at least six months on the station before returning on Wednesday.
Falcon 9 launches @NASA's Crew-11, mission 19th human flight of Dragon pic.twitter.com/M25EYwa01s
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 1, 2025
Dragon and Crew-11 in orbit on the way to @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/z5j3oJg59Z
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 1, 2025
Among the astronauts successfully delivered to the ISS were Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke from NASA, Kimiya Yui from Japan, and Oleg Platonov from Russia. Each of them had previously been assigned to other missions, but circumstances forced them to change their plans.
Fincke and Yui were scheduled for a Starliner mission, but due to engine issues, the launch was postponed until 2026, so they joined SpaceX. Platonov was removed from the launch crew of Soyuz due to illness. After their arrival at the ISS, 11 people remained on the station.
Space Flight
Undoubtedly, the flight to the ISS was very quick, but the speed record belongs to the Russians, who reached the station in three hours. Interestingly, during the ISS mission, NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann took a unique photo of a rare atmospheric phenomenon - a sprite.
The new crew to the International Space Station was delivered by SpaceX very quickly, in less than 15 hours, which is an impressive achievement in space travel. The astronauts plan to spend several months on the station, performing various scientific experiments and other tasks before returning to Earth.