• SpaceX's Crew-11 astronauts docked with the ISS on Saturday, marking a significant milestone.
• The mission includes unique experiments, such as studying Armenian pomegranate seeds in microgravity.
• Crew-11 will conduct simulations for future lunar missions under NASA's Artemis program.
• The Crew Dragon capsule's docking occurred at 2:27 a.m. ET, with a planned hatch opening at 4:15 a.m. ET.
• This marks the 11th crew rotation mission to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

An international team comprising four astronauts successfully docked aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with the International Space Station (ISS) at 2:27 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. The crew includes American astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. They launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the 11th crew rotation mission to the ISS as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which seeks to partner with private industry for space travel, according to Dawn, The Jakarta Post, and India Times.

Following the docking, the ISS crew welcomed the new arrivals, stating, "We have cold drinks, hot food, and us waiting — see you soon," to which Fincke excitedly responded, "Hello Space Station — Crew 11 is here and we are super excited to join." This mission is not just a milestone for human spaceflight, but it also plays a critical role in preparing for upcoming lunar exploration missions under NASA’s Artemis program, as the Crew-11 astronauts will undertake simulations to prepare for touchdowns near the lunar South Pole, according to Dawn and The Jakarta Post.

The ISS serves as a crucial testbed for various scientific research, including studies that aim to support missions to Mars. During their six-month mission, the Crew-11 astronauts will conduct experiments, one of which involves Armenian pomegranate seeds. These seeds will be analyzed in microgravity compared to those kept on Earth to understand how space conditions affect agricultural growth—an essential aspect of sustainable long-term space travel. This mission reinforces the ISS’s role, particularly as it is expected to be decommissioned around 2030, gradually breaking apart over a remote area of the Pacific, referred to as Point Nemo, according to The Jakarta Post and India Times.