NASA astronauts reach ISS, SpaceX's Elon Musk says its the 'first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars'
SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk’s company. With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The hatches swung open a few hours later, and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents. Docking confirmed – Crew Dragon has arrived at the @space_station ! pic.twitter.com/KiKBpZ8R2H — SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2020 Live views of @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug testing manual control of Dragon on approach to @space_station → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/bbRQ8uAZ6u — SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2020 Unlike the SpaceX and NASA flight control rooms, where everyone was spaced well apart, there was no social distancing or masks neede