*** ----> SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts reaches space station | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts reaches space station

AP/Reuters | Cape Canaveral

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Four astronauts onboard a newly designed spacecraft from Elon Musk's SpaceX have docked at the International Space station.

It is the first crewed mission on a privately built space capsule purchased by NASA.

The Dragon capsule docked late on Monday night (local time) following a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

"Oh, what a good voice to hear," space station astronaut Kate Rubins called out when the Dragon's commander, Mike Hopkins, first made radio contact.

The linkup occurred 422 kilometres above Idaho.

Mr Hopkins and his crew — Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan's Soichi Noguchi — join two Russians and one American who flew to the space station last month from Kazakhstan.

Mr Glover is the first African American to move in for a long haul.

A space newcomer, Mr Glover was presented his gold astronaut pin on Monday.

As they prepared for the space station linkup, the Dragon crew beamed down live window views of New Zealand and a brilliant blue, cloud-streaked Pacific 250 miles below.

"Looks amazing," Mission Control radioed from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

"It looks amazing from up here, too," Mr Hopkins replied.

They will remain at the orbiting lab until their replacements arrive on another Dragon in April.

The four astronauts named their capsule "resilience" to provide hope and inspiration during an especially difficult year for the whole world.

They broadcast a tour of their capsule on Monday, showing off the touchscreen controls, storage areas and their zero-gravity indicator: a small plush Baby Yoda.

Ms Walker said it was a little tighter for them than for the two astronauts on the test flight.

"We sort of dance around each other to stay out of each other's way," she said.

For the SpaceX launch on Sunday, NASA kept guests to a minimum because of coronavirus, and even Mr Musk had to stay away after tweeting that he "most likely" had an infection.

He was replaced in his official launch duties by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who assured reporters he was still very much involved with Sunday night's action, although remotely.

This is the second astronaut mission for SpaceX but the first time Mr Musk's company delivered a crew for a half-year station stay.

The two-pilot test flight earlier this year lasted two months.