U.S. International Space Station successfully docked mysterious object approaching the spacecraft

The U.S. spacecraft Endeavour 24 and the International Space Station successfully docked, Endeavour carrying four astronauts have entered the station. However, the U.S. space agency (NASA) confirmed that during the docking process, there was an unidentified object approaching Endeavour, when the four astronauts were dressed in space suits as a precaution.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent the four astronauts on board the Endeavour Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, located 425 kilometers above the Indian Ocean, in the early morning hours of April 24, EST.

Endeavour successfully docked with the ISS at around 5 a.m. A video and photos posted on NASA’s website show the four astronauts entering the station and being greeted by other crew members.

Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur from NASA, along with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, posed for a photo with their station mates, who will be on the station for a six-month They will be on a six-month mission in space.

NASA spokeswoman Kathryn Hambleton confirmed that during Endeavour’s flight to the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceX received a message from U.S. Space Command that an unidentified object may have approached the Endeavour spacecraft at 5:43 p.m. UTC on the 23rd.

The unidentified object eventually overflew about 45 kilometers from Endeavour and posed no threat, Hambleton said. At the time, all four astronauts were wearing space suits as a precaution. She stressed that astronaut safety is a matter of utmost importance to NASA and its partners.

This is the first time SpaceX has used a recovered rocket to send astronauts into space, which could significantly reduce the cost of spaceflight.

At the same time, this is also the third time that NASA NASA has partnered with SpaceX to send astronauts to Earth orbit, with the first two in May and November 2020.

NASA also announced that four other astronauts from the space station, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Satoshi Noguchi, will return to Earth on April 28 aboard the SpaceX “Dragon” spacecraft back to Earth.