Astronauts greet Axiom Mission 3 team with hugs as they arrive on ISS

Axiom Mission 3 astronauts were greeted with hugs as they docked on the International Space Station on Saturday 20 January.

The SpaceX flight blasted off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center late afternoon on Thursday, with Italian, Swedish and Turkish astronauts on board.

Italian Air Force pilot Walter Villadei and mission specialists Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey and Marcus Wandt of Sweden were on board.

Their escort on the trip was a retired Nasa astronaut Michael López-Alegría.

Astronauts representing seven nations are now on board the ISS.

The new arrivals will spend the next two weeks performing experiments and soaking in the views of Earth before returning home.