Replacement crew docks at space station, boosts crew back to seven

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station on Saturday, restoring the orbiting laboratory crew to seven members. The docking came one month after four fliers returned home early because of a medical issue. The capsule arrived at the port of the forward Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. EST. It completed the 34 hour trip that began with launch the previous day from the Kennedy Space Center on a Falcon 9 rocket. Crew 12 commander Jessica Meir said the team was grateful to be on board and ready to get to work. She is making her second long duration stay aboard the station. The arriving group also includes Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, Jack Hathaway and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot. They joined station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who launched to the outpost last November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The four replace Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The early departure last month had left the station with three occupants. With seven crew members aboard, research in the United States segment can resume its normal pace. Spacewalks can also be staged as needed. The crew held a private medical conference after docking. NASA does not discuss astronaut health issues under medical privacy guidelines. Sophie Adenot said the launch gave the crew quite a ride. She described the view of Earth as mind blowing and noted that no lines or borders were visible from orbit.