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Space-Station Arrival

CREWMATES Sultan al-Neyadi (right) and three fellow astronauts lock in before launch to the ISS. SPACEX

Four new astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on March 3. They’ll do six months of research. The crew includes scientists from the United States, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sultan al-Neyadi is just the second person from the UAE to go to space. The four join 11 other people on the ISS.

The SpaceX capsule took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 2. Docking at the ISS was delayed for an hour because of a problem with the capsule’s docking hooks. The craft hovered 65 feet from the ISS as flight controllers in California made a software fix.

“I can’t be happier than this, seeing old friends in space, gathering as a big family,” al-Neyadi said, entering the station. “This is the essence of space exploration.”