FLORIDA: Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts.
The four newcomers — representing the US, Japan and Russia — will spend the next few days learning the station’s ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week, one that has been up there since last year, to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June.
Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month.
The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift.
While the seven space station residents prepared for the new arrivals, one of the Russians — Ivan Vagner — briefly put on an alien mask in a lighthearted moment. Wilmore swung open the space station’s hatch and rang the ship’s bell as the new crew floated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes..
“It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.
Wilmore’s and Williams’ ride arrived back in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements’ brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs. An older capsule took its place, pushing up their return by a couple weeks to mid-March.
Weather permitting, the SpaceX capsule carrying Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts will undock from the space station no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida’s coast.
Until then, there will be 11 aboard the orbiting lab, representing the US, Russia and Japan.
![]()
NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
Short Url
https://arab.news/rd7gx
NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
- The four newcomers will spend the next few days learning the International Space Station's ins and outs
- The new crew floated in one by one to the station and were greeted with hugs and handshakes
Kremlin suggests it may not like new Ukraine peace proposals after recent US-Ukraine talks
MOSCOW: Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday that Moscow has not seen revised US proposals made after the most recent talks with Ukraine, but that it may not like parts of them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday Kyiv had agreed on key points of a post-war reconstruction plan in talks with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other top officials.
Zelensky said work on an “economic document” was proceeding and that Ukraine was “fully aligned with the American side.”
The United States has sought to establish an investment fund in Ukraine for sectors including rare metals as a central aspect of the country’s post-war reconstruction.
Moscow has also
signalled
its interest in attracting foreign investment after the Wall Street Journal reported that Washington’s peace plan includes proposals to invest in Russian rare earths and energy.
Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said on Friday that the Russian side hadn’t yet seen the new proposals, but suggested Moscow may not look upon them favorably..”..We haven’t seen the revised versions of the American drafts. When we see them, we may not like a lot of things, that’s how I sense it,” Ushakov told reporters.
He added that European and Ukrainian officials were expected to engage in an “active brainstorming session” over the weekend, and that the Kremlin needed to see what the outcome would be.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that there were no lingering “misunderstandings” with Washington over Ukraine, but added that Moscow wanted any peace plan to include collective security guarantees for all parties involved.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday Kyiv had agreed on key points of a post-war reconstruction plan in talks with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other top officials.
Zelensky said work on an “economic document” was proceeding and that Ukraine was “fully aligned with the American side.”
The United States has sought to establish an investment fund in Ukraine for sectors including rare metals as a central aspect of the country’s post-war reconstruction.
Moscow has also
signalled
its interest in attracting foreign investment after the Wall Street Journal reported that Washington’s peace plan includes proposals to invest in Russian rare earths and energy.
Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said on Friday that the Russian side hadn’t yet seen the new proposals, but suggested Moscow may not look upon them favorably..”..We haven’t seen the revised versions of the American drafts. When we see them, we may not like a lot of things, that’s how I sense it,” Ushakov told reporters.
He added that European and Ukrainian officials were expected to engage in an “active brainstorming session” over the weekend, and that the Kremlin needed to see what the outcome would be.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that there were no lingering “misunderstandings” with Washington over Ukraine, but added that Moscow wanted any peace plan to include collective security guarantees for all parties involved.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.