Japanese Astronaut Onishi Arrives at ISS

Tokyo, March 16 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Takuya Onishi, 49, and three other astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on a Crew Dragon spacecraft Sunday, marking the start of their long-term stay.

About 90 minutes after the spacecraft of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, docked with the ISS, the connecting hatch was opened.

Onishi was the first to enter the ISS. He hugged the waiting ISS crew, rejoicing at their arrival.

"I was able to return to the ISS with lots of energy," Onishi said in Japanese at a ceremony held later. "From tomorrow, I'll work hard on various tasks, including science at the (Japanese experiment module) Kibo."

Onishi completed his second flight to space, after his first in 2016. The SpaceX Crew-10 mission was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida on Friday afternoon local time.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]