SpaceX Crew Dragon Docks with ISS on 11th NASA Mission

On August 2, 2025, SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), marking the 11th crew rotation mission under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The four astronauts—Americans Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov—arrived after launching from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. This six-month mission includes simulating lunar landing scenarios near the Moon’s South Pole as part of NASA's Artemis program, testing how gravity shifts affect spacecraft piloting. The ISS, continuously inhabited since 2000, serves as a vital research platform for future deep space exploration, including missions to Mars. Among the scientific experiments are studies on the growth of Armenian pomegranate seeds in microgravity compared to Earth controls. The crew was warmly welcomed aboard by the existing station members, emphasizing the ongoing international cooperation in space exploration.