米民間宇宙船、ドッキング　星出さん、野口さん滞在のＩＳＳに

　国際宇宙ステーション（ＩＳＳ）長期滞在に臨む星出彰彦さん（５２）が搭乗する米民間宇宙船クルードラゴン運用２号機は、２４日午後６時１０分ごろ（日本時間）ＩＳＳにドッキングした。
　午後８時５分ごろには連結部のハッチが開放。約３０分後、星出さんが一番乗りでＩＳＳに乗り移ると、昨年１１月から滞在中の野口聡一さん（５６）と対面し、２人は抱き合って無事の到着を喜んだ。
　日本人飛行士のＩＳＳ同時滞在は、２０１０年４月の野口さんと山崎直子さん（５０）以来２回目。ＩＳＳ長期滞在要員同士では初めてとなる。
　星出さんのＩＳＳ滞在は、１２年の長期滞在以来約９年ぶり。到着後、日本人では若田光一さん（５７）に続く２人目となる船長に就任し、ＩＳＳの運用やクルーの安全を守る責任者を務める。
　一方、野口さんらは日本時間の２８日夜、クルードラゴン運用初号機でＩＳＳを離れ、翌２９日未明にフロリダ州沖に着水し、帰還する予定だ。（2021/04/24-21:37）

A U.S. spacecraft carrying four astronauts, including Japan's Akihiko Hoshide, on a long-term mission, docked with the International Space Station around 6:10 p.m. Saturday Japan time (9:10 a.m. GMT).
   Around 8:05 p.m., the hatch opened and Hoshide, 52, and the other three moved into the ISS and reunited with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, 56, and others, who have been on the ISS since November last year.
   The Crew Dragon spacecraft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida on Friday afternoon Japan time. The spacecraft and the rocket were developed by U.S. company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX.
   It is the second time for multiple Japanese astronauts to stay on the ISS at the same time. In the first such case, Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki, 50, spent time together on the ISS in April 2010. It is the first time for Japanese astronauts on long-term missions to stay together on the space station.
   This is Hoshide's first ISS mission since 2012, when he was also on a long-term mission.