No Social Distancing in Space: New Crew Greeted With Hugs

In this image from video made available by NASA, International Space Station crew members welcome cosmonauts Ivan Vagner, center, Anatoly Ivanishin and astronaut Chris Cassidy, obscured, as they exit the Soyuz capsule docked to the station on Thursday, April 9, 2020. NASA via AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Three astronauts flew to the International Space Station on April 9, departing the virus-plagued planet with little fanfare and no family members at the launch site to bid them farewell.

NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the orbiting lab in their Soyuz capsule six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan. They joined two Americans and one Russian who will return to Earth in a week.