The International Space Station is back to a full crew after four new astronauts arrived Saturday to replace teammates who returned home early because of a medical emergency. A spacecraft launched by SpaceX carried astronauts from the U.S., France and Russia to the station one day after liftoff from Florida. The earlier evacuation marked the first in 65 years of human spaceflight for NASA and left only three astronauts on board, forcing the agency to pause some research and spacewalks.
The new crew — Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrei Fedyaev — will stay for about eight to nine months. After docking high above Earth, the astronauts greeted their colleagues with hugs and cheers. NASA has not shared details about the astronaut who became ill in January, citing medical privacy, and says it did not change its health checks for the new crew.
