Four new astronauts have arrived at the International Space Station to replace their colleagues who pulled out early over health concerns.
SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts to the orbital research laboratory 277 miles (446km) up in space, a day after they launched from Cape Canaveral.
The new crew members include NASA‘s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev.
The last group of astronauts were forced to evacuate after one of them suffered what officials described as a serious health issue.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the astronauts approaches the International Space Station. Pic: NASA/AP
The withdrawal left only three crew members on board the space station – one American and two Russians – prompting Nasa to pause space walks and reduce research output.
Ms Meir, a marine biologist, and Mr Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have previously lived on the space station.
The new astronauts dressed in blue greet the crew members already on the space station. Pic: NASA/AP
On her first mission to the station in 2019, Ms Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk.
Ms Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is only the second French woman to fly in space.
Mr Hathaway is a captain in the US Navy.
Video of the crew’s arrival shared by NASA shows the four newcomers floating through the hatch from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft into the space station.
“Bonjour,” Ms Adenot said.
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The seven space explorers hugged and exchanged exuberant high-fives in the zero-gravity environment before posing for photos.
“Let’s get rolling,” Ms Meir said.
The crew will spend eight to nine months on board the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket taking off on Friday. Pic: NASA/AP
Last month’s medical evacuation was NASA’s first in 65 years of space exploration.
NASA has declined to divulge the identity of the astronaut who fell ill in orbit on 7 January or provide details of what happened, citing privacy concerns.
The ailing astronaut and three others returned to Earth more than a month sooner than planned.
They spent their first night back in a hospital before returning to Houston.
