A Brighton University graduate has arrived at the International Space Station to start a six-month mission.
Sultan Al Neyadi, from the United Arab Emirates, was among a crew of four to board the orbiting lab earlier this morning.
However, their arrival was delayed following an issue with one of their space capsule’s docking hooks.
The SpaceX capsule and the astronauts waited for 20 metres from the space station as flight controllers in California scrambled to come up with a software fix.
Although all of the 12 hooks appeared fine, the switch for one of them malfunctioned.
All aboard the orbiting laboratory! The four members of our @SpaceX #Crew6 mission have entered the @space_station and were greeted at their welcoming ceremony. Next: a safety briefing and orientation, then the new arrivals are off to catch some sleep. pic.twitter.com/wegjRG0qjs
— NASA (@NASA) March 3, 2023
Mission control relayed new software commands to the craft, with the docking of the capsule taking place an hour later than planned while the space station soared 260 miles above the Somalian coast.
Al Neyadi, who will spend 180 days aboard the International Space Station, is the first astronaut from the Arab world to spend an extended time in space.
Joining him for the mission are Nasa’s Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, as well as Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev.
SpaceX launched the four astronauts into space early on Thursday from Florida. Their flight had been delayed by a few days due to a clogged filter in an ignition fluid line.
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