Khaberni - Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew that was forced to return to Earth sooner than scheduled due to a medical emergency of one of its members.
The journey to space began with a launch from "Cape Canaveral" in Florida on a "Falcon 9" rocket owned by billionaire American Elon Musk's company "SpaceX".
The crew includes American astronaut Jessica Meir and her compatriot Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian astronaut Andrey Vidyaev. Meir, who was previously a marine biologist studying animals in harsh environments, leads the team.
French astronaut Sophie Adenot from the "European Space Agency" is testing a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to enable astronauts to perform medical ultrasounds on themselves.
The "Crew-12" team affiliated with the American space agency "NASA" reached the "International Space Station" after a journey that took about 34 hours.
The four astronauts replace the "Crew 11" team, which returned to Earth in January, a month earlier than originally scheduled, due to a medical emergency of one of its members, in the first medical evacuation in the history of the space station.
Meir stated after docking at the International Space Station, "We have connected the legacy of continuous human presence in space for over 25 years at this very location," according to "France-Presse".
She added, "As we look at Earth from these windows, we are reminded that cooperation is not only possible but necessary. Up here, there are no borders, and hope is global."
