Christmas comes early as first shipment in months arrives at space station

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station received some early Christmas gifts as their first delivery for six months arrived on Wednesday. The six-man crew hauled in a three-and-a-half-ton capsule which also contained groceries and other much-needed supplies. Nasa astronaut Kjell Lindgren used the space station’s robot arm to grab the capsule, which was launched from the U.S on Sunday. The operation went smoothly as Lindgren operated the crane via joy sticks. "There’s much rejoicing on the ground,“ Mission Control radioed.

I knew those hours playing video games would come in handy!

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren on operating the space station’s robot crane

The supply ship, dubbed Cygnus after the swan constellation, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. Nasa’s commercial shipper, Orbital ATK, used another company’s rocket for the launch. Orbital supply runs had been on hold ever since a launch explosion last year. The other U.S. supplier, SpaceX, meanwhile, has not made a delivery since April because of a launch accident. This was Lindgren’s last big job at the space station as he’s scheduled to return to Earth on Friday, along with a Russian and Japanese, following a five-month mission.

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