Super speedy ISS space trip sets new record
- Published
The International Space Station orbits around 250 miles above Earth - but four astronauts have just made the journey there in record time.
The Crew-13 mission team took less than eight hours to reach the ISS on their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, setting a new US record for the fastest trip to the space station.
But speed wasn't the only thing making this mission special.
Nasa astronaut Jessica Watkins also made history as the first black woman to lead a crew into orbit.
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Nasa astronaut Jessica Watkins leads the crew out to the rocket
The Crew-13 mission team consists of Nasa astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
The group launched from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last week.
Their destination was the International Space Station, a huge research station that lies in low Earth orbit.
They made the journey in just seven hours and 55 minutes - setting a new record for a US crew to reach the space station.
Getting to the ISS usually takes much longer than it did for Crew-13.
The length of the trip depends on where the space station is in relation to the spacecraft when it launches.
For comparison, the previous crew to launch from the US took more than 30 hours to reach the ISS.
Crew-13 will now take over from the astronauts currently living aboard the space station.
The four astronauts will spend around six months on board the ISS, carrying out scientific experiments, testing technology and helping with maintenance on the station.
