SpaceX Crew Dragon opens hatch with ISS to reach stranded astronauts: live TV

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday and opened its hatch to reach astronauts who had been stranded for more than nine months.

The Crew Dragon astronauts were shown on live TV embracing and hugging their counterparts in zero gravity aboard the space station shortly after 05:45 GMT.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been stuck aboard the orbital lab since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage, suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.

What was initially planned as a days-long round trip for Wilmore and Williams has now stretched beyond nine months. That is significantly longer than the standard ISS rotation for astronauts, which typically lasts about six months.

However, their extended stay is still much shorter than the U.S. spaceflight record of 371 days set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio aboard the ISS in 2023, or the world record held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 continuous days aboard the Mir space station.

Still, the unexpected nature of the duo’s prolonged stay—separated from their families for far longer than anticipated—has garnered widespread interest and sympathy. They even had to receive additional clothing and personal care items, as they hadn’t packed enough for such an extended mission.