Just before noon Swedish time, the Dragon spacecraft completed docking with the International Space Station. Just over an hour later, the crew was able to board the ISS, where they were greeted with hugs from the crew members already on board.
– It felt a bit strange that someone suddenly knocked on the door after flying around in space for 36 hours, says Marcus Wandt in Axiom’s live broadcast shortly after boarding the space station.
He describes the journey through space and the collaboration on the craft as fantastic.
– I have never experienced anything like this before. To be able to see the earth from above and float around and feel that Sweden has decidedly chosen to position itself far ahead in development and continue to be a country of innovation – I am incredibly proud to be able to represent Sweden and Europe up here.
The rocket with the craft took off at 22:49 Swedish time last Thursday. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP
Dragon was suspended last Thursday evening from Florida in the USA. In addition to Wandt – who with the trip is the third Swede in space – three other astronauts were on the craft: Italian Walter Villadei, Turkish Alper Gezeravcı and commander Michael López-Alegría, who has dual citizenship and represents both Spain and the United States.
The seven crew members which were previously on board the space station come from Japan, Denmark, the USA and Russia. The Danish commander Andreas Mogensen was happy to see his colleague from the neighboring country.
– It is certainly the first time we have two Scandinavians on board, so I am also very happy to be able to welcome my Scandinavian colleague on board, says Mogensen during the welcome ceremony.
The craft will stay at the space station for two weeks. For Marcus Wandt, intensive research work with around 30 experiments awaits.
Read more:
Swedish Marcus Wandt’s first words from space: “Absolutely wonderful”