WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Two International Space Station crew members installed the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs) designed to handle commercial crew spacecraft arrivals, NASA said in a press release on Friday.
SUCCESS! Intl. Docking Adapter officially installed at 10:40am ET. Will welcome future @Commercial_Crew vehicles. https://t.co/t8KQbBZMJV
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) 19 августа 2016 г.
"Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins will install the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs) that will enable future arrivals of Boeing [Starliner] and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft," the release stated.
The two astronauts spent six hours outside the space station installing the first IDA, the release noted.
The International Space Station is a joint project between the US, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada, and has been in orbit since 1998.
