The SpaceX capsule which will retrieve the two stranded astronauts has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).
Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams and Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore were onboard a test flight to the ISS on Boeing’s newest spacecraft on 5 June.
They were meant to stay in orbit for eight days – however, issues with Starliner’s propulsion system meant they were left stranded in space for months.
The US’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov manned the capsule which docked at the ISS at 5.30pm EDT (around 10.30pm UK time) on Sunday, having blasted off on Saturday evening.
Image: SpaceX capsule Dragon docks to the International Space Station. Pic: NASA/AP
Image: Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov in the Dragon capsule. Pic: NASA/AP
NASA said the capsule attached to the ISS in complete darkness while soaring 260 miles above Botswana.
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0:40
SpaceX docks to rescue stranded astronauts
Mr Hague and Mr Gorbunov will not return with Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore – who will take two empty seats made clear on Crew Dragon – until February next year.
By then, the two stranded astronauts will have been in space for eight months.
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The arrival of the two new astronauts means there will be 11 people living on the ISS, NASA said.
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Speaking before take-off, Mr Hague said: “There’s always something that is changing [with spaceflight].
“Maybe this time it’s been a little more visible to the public.”
Image: The launch of the SpaceX rescue mission. Pic: AP
Arriving in Cape Canaveral last week, he also said: “We’ve got a dynamic challenge ahead of us.
“We know each other and we’re professionals and we step up and do what’s asked of us.”
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0:52
August: Astronauts stuck until February
NASA deputy program manager Dina Contella said the two astronauts watched the SpaceX launch from the ISS, with Ms Williams cheering “go Dragon!”
Boeing’s Starliner undocked from the ISS and flew back to Earth in September without the crew. NASA decided the thruster failures and helium leaks that cropped up after lift-off were too serious and poorly understood to risk the test pilots’ return.
Image: (L-R) Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague before take off on Saturday. Pic: AP
In a news conference from space the same month, Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore said the space station had become their “happy place”.
“That’s how it goes in this business,” she said, adding that “you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity”.
Mr Wilmore also added: “It’s been quite an evolution over the last three months, we’ve been involved from the beginning through all the processes of assessing our spacecraft.
“And it was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through.”
Two people have been killed and nine injured in a shooting in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Memorial Day.
Police said a large number of people were gathered near Lemon Hill Drive and Sedgley Drive at around 10.30pm local time on Monday when shots were fired.
A man and a woman were killed, and three teenagers – aged 15, 16 and 17 – were among the injured, all of whom were said to be in a stable condition.
“We have not recovered any weapons at this time,” a police officer told reporters.
“This is significant. It’s Memorial Day… we understand the significance of this event and we will make sure to provide an update on Tuesday.”
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States, usually observed on the last Monday of May.
The day is dedicated to honouring and mourning military personnel who have died in the performance of their duties.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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2:38
Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Image: Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
In Minneapolis, the spot where George Floyd was murdered has been turned into a mural.
His face is depicted in street art on a pavement covered in flowers, rosaries, and other trinkets left by people who have come to pay their respects in the last five years.
His final moments, struggling for breath with white police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, were captured in a viral video that provoked anger, upset, and outrage.
Image: Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck
In Minneapolis and other parts of America, there were protests that at points boiled over into unrest.
The events to mark the fifth anniversary of his death took on a very different tone – one of celebration and joy.
Behind a wooden statue of a clenched fist on one end of a junction now renamed George Perry Floyd Square, people gathered in the morning.
There was a moment of prayer before a brass band began to play and the group marched, while singing and chanting.
Image: George Perry Floyd Square, a makeshift memorial area
‘It made us want to fight harder’
Among those gathered in front of a makeshift stage built in the square were two of Floyd’s family members – his cousin Paris and aunt Mahalia.
To them, the man whose death sparked a racial reckoning in America and further afield, was simply “Perry,” a larger-than-life figure whose presence is missed at family gatherings.
Speaking to me while the speakers behind them thumped and people danced, they didn’t just reflect with sadness though.
There was also pride at a legacy they felt has led to change.
“It made us want to fight harder,” said Mahalia, “and it’s a feeling you cannot explain. When the whole world just stood up.”
Image: George Floyd’s aunt Mahalia and cousin Paris
Referring to Chauvin’s eventual murder charge, Paris added: “I think that from here on out, at least officers know that you’re not going to slide through the cracks. Our voices are heard more.”
The tapestry of items outside the Cup Foods convenience store, now renamed Unity Foods, is not the only makeshift memorial in the area.
A short walk away is the “Say Their Names” cemetery, an art installation honouring black people killed by the police.
Meeting me there later in the day, activist Nikema Levy says the installation and George Floyd Square are called “sacred spaces” in the community.
As someone who took to the streets at the time of Floyd’s death and a community organiser for years before that, she’s constantly stopped by people who want to speak to her.
Image: Activist Nikema Levy speaking to Sky News
‘White supremacy on steroids’
Once we do manage to speak, Levy reminds me of a wider political picture. One that goes beyond Minneapolis and is a fraught one.
In the week of the anniversary, the US Department of Justice rolled back investigations into some of the largest police forces in the country, including in Minneapolis – a move she calls “diabolical.”
“That type of cruelty is what we have seen since Donald Trump took office on January 20th of this year,” she continued.
“From my perspective, that is white supremacy on steroids. And it should come as no surprise that he would take these types of steps, because these are the things that he talked about on the campaign trail.”
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3:23
Has US changed five years after George Floyd’s death?
‘True healing has never taken place’
Trump has argued his policing reforms will help make America’s communities safer.
Even on a day of optimism, with a community coming together, Levy’s words in front of headstones bearing the names of black people who have died at the hands of the police are a reminder of how deep the racial divides in America still are – a sentiment she leaves me with.
“From the days of slavery and Jim Crow in this country, we’ve just had the perception of healing, but true healing has never taken place,” she says.
“So the aftermath of George Floyd is yet another example of what we already know.”