On Saturday, August 2, 2025, an international crew composed of two NASA astronauts (Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke), a JAXA astronaut (Kimiya Yui), and a Roscosmos cosmonaut (Oleg Platonov) successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule, after completing a record-breaking 15-hour journey from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch occurred on August 1 at 11:43 a.m. EDT, and the automated docking took place at 2:27 a.m. EDT the following morning at the Harmony module’s forward port. With their arrival, the ISS’s temporary population has increased to 11 crew members, reinforcing Expedition 73’s science and operations teams.
The Crew-11 mission marks a major milestone in space exploration: veteran astronaut Mike Fincke leads his fourth mission, having logged over 381 days in space. Meanwhile, Cardman and Platonov return to flight after previous delays due to Boeing’s Starliner issues. Yui, for his part, visits the ISS for a second time following his participation in Expeditions 44/45 in 2015.
The crew is scheduled for a minimum six-month stay, during which they will conduct experiments focused on lunar landing simulations, human cell growth, space nutrition, and vision protection in microgravity. There is also the possibility of extending their mission up to eight months to optimize resources and reduce operational costs.
What does this mean for the future of the Artemis program?
This successful docking reinforces collaboration between NASA, SpaceX, JAXA, and Roscosmos, and serves as proof of the effectiveness of the commercial crew flight model. In addition, the scientific experiments and simulations being conducted on board directly support preparations for future Artemis missions, which aim to return astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole and establish a lasting human presence beyond Earth.