SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of launch to space station (video)

The next four people to launch to the International Space Station have arrived at their launch site.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, together with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov flew on a NASA aircraft from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Saturday (July 26). They touched down at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712) GMT.

"We are absolutely joyed to be here at Kennedy Space Center," said Cardman, Crew-11 commander. "This is the first moment when it's really starting to feel real. This is the beginning of a week when things will feel progressively more and more real as we approach our launch."

Cardman, Fincke, Yui and Platonov are scheduled to launch as the members of SpaceX's Crew-11 aboard the Dragon "Endeavour" on a Falcon 9 rocket from KSC's Launch Complex 39A on Thursday (July 31) at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT). Should the flight go as planned, they will dock to the orbiting laboratory next Saturday (Aug. 2) to join the station's Expedition 73 (and later Expedition 74) crew.

"Boy, it's great to be back," said Fincke, Crew-11 pilot." "One of the last times I landed on the at the [LLF] was on space shuttle Endeavour, and now we get to go on another endeavor, a Dragon Endeavour, this time."

On Friday, mission managers gave their “go” for launch preparations to proceed after concluding a flight readiness review.

"We're looking forward to launching soon," said Fincke.