See also: NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 blast off to the ISS scrubbed However, officials said that the primary concern remains the cumulus cloud rule, which was the ultimate reason it was cancelled. The crew arrived at the space center at Launch Complex 39A on Friday morning and took off at 11:43 a.m. On board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft were NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with Kimiya Yui from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Oleg Platonov from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. During the Dragon’s flight, SpaceX monitored a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. Meanwhile, NASA oversaw space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA's live coverage resumed at 1 a.m. on Saturday, featuring the rendezvous, docking, and hatch opening. After docking, the crew changed out of their spacesuits and prepared cargo for offload before opening the hatch between Dragon and the space station's Harmony module around 4:45 a.m. Once the new crew was aboard the orbital outpost, NASA provided coverage of the welcome ceremony beginning at approximately 5:45 a.m. The crew aboard the space station briefly increased to 11 as Crew-11 joined NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim, along with JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Alexey Zubritsky. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 departed the space station following the arrival of Crew-11 and a scheduled handover period. In preparation for Crew-10’s return, mission teams reviewed weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California prior to their departure. During their mission, Crew-11 conducted scientific research aimed at preparing for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefiting humanity on Earth. NASA said that the crew members simulated lunar landings, tested strategies to safeguard vision, and advanced various human spaceflight studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program. The crew also studied plant cell division and the effects of microgravity on bacteria-killing viruses, while executing experiments designed to produce a higher volume of human stem cells and generate on-demand nutrients. This mission marks the 11th crew rotation flight to the ISS as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, per NASA. Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter to get the day's top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the biggest stories and can't miss video. Stay Connected