ISS welcomes SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts By Spectrum News Staff Orlando PUBLISHED 8:29 AM ET Apr. 24, 2021 PUBLISHED 8:29 AM EDT Apr. 24, 2021 SHARE What You Need To Know This is the second rotational manned mission to the ISS for SpaceX The team launched on a rocket with "flight-proven" hardware on board NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, plus Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Aki Hoshide and European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet, plan to spend six months on the ISS. They’ll replace four astronauts who will return to Earth in their own Dragon capsule Wednesday. It was the first time two SpaceX crew Dragons were parked there at the same time — practically side by side.