Nasa SpaceX mission: Dragon capsule docks with space station

The four astronauts who left Earth on Monday (GMT) have arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).Their SpaceX Dragon capsule made a series of inch-perfect manoeuvres to bring them into an attachment position on the front of the orbiting lab.Commander Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi will be spending the next six months aloft.They join three individuals already aboard - Kate Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.Raising the resident complement to seven individuals will triple the amount of microgravity science that can be conducted on the 410km-high outpost, the US space agency Nasa says.The Dragon docked at 04:01, just as the station was flying over the US state of Idaho.The incoming crew had to wait for seal and pressure checks before the hatches between the Dragon and the ISS could be opened. But once this was completed, they were able to enter their new home.Mike Hopkins said his team had had an amazing ride up from Earth."I can't tell you how excited we were when that rocket lifted off the pad, and then the last 27 hours have gone really smooth," he radioed down to Earth."We are so excited to be here. We are humbled and we are excited to be a part of this great expedition. And we are looking forward to the next six months and can't wait to get started."