A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station completing the first part of its Crew-8 or SpaceX Crew-8 mission that began with its launch about 28 hours earlier. After checking that the pressure gets properly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Aleksandr Grebenkin, Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps to enter the Station and start their mission, which will last about six months.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft is equipped with an automated docking system to the International Docking Adapter (IDA). The approach procedure, with safety as the top priority, has been extensively tested during previous missions of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The International Space Station’s position in its orbit counts a lot in calculating the time needed to reach it. If possible, a date is chosen for the launch that allows for a journey that’s not much longer than 24 hours to limit the time spent by astronauts in transit. The Endeavor’s journey was longer because the launch was postponed due to winds stronger than allowed, and a couple of days’ delay was enough to double the journey’s duration.

The Crew-8 mission’s crew is about to meet the Crew-7 mission’s crew, which should end with the departure from the Station on March 11. SpaceX offers the reliability of space missions independent from Russia while the first crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is currently scheduled for April.

Boeing has now accumulated years of delay due to the many problems encountered during the two test flights of the Starliner and also in the various phases of testing on Earth. Jeanette Epps was assigned to one of the crews of a mission on the Starliner but was reassigned to a Crew Dragon due to these continuous delays. Any date given for the crewed mission should be considered tentative, and when Boeing finally manages to get NASA approval to put the Starliner into regular service, it will be a relief for a lot of people.