U.S., JAPAN, FRANCE ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT ISS ONBOARD SPACEX CRAFT

The commercially developed SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon ship carrying a group of four astronauts from the United States, Japan, and France successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday following its liftoff from NASA's space center a day earlier, Kyodo News reported.

Two NASA astronauts -- Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur -- along with Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAEA) and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency (ESA) will begin an approximately six-month mission at the orbiting laboratory.

The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and United Press International (UPI) also reported on their arrival at the ISS.

The new crew arrived after a roughly 23 and a half hour trip, bringing the number of astronauts currently aboard the ISS to 11. "Welcome back to home away from home for 6 months!!!!!!" 56-year-old JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who arrived at the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon ship in November, said in a Twitter post.

He will begin his return to Earth on Wednesday after a handover. It is the first time in 11 years that two Japanese astronauts have been in space simultaneously, since Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki, 50, in 2010.

"I look forward to seeing a scrum formed by the 11 astronauts and engaging in the mission," Hoshide, 52, said after arriving at the ISS, likening the mission to his beloved rugby. Hoshide will serve as a commander of the ISS and a mission specialist on the station and is planning on conducting experiments using the Experiment Module "Kibo" while aboard, among other endeavors.

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