The arrival of Crew 11 clears the way for four other station fliers to return to Earth next week after a 145-day stay in space.

NASA and SpaceX's Crew-11 mission is made up of two U.S. astronauts, one from Japan and a Russian cosmonaut. They'll be aboard the International Space Station for six months conducting research.

An international crew of four astronauts launched toward the International Space Station from Florida on Friday aboard a SpaceX rocket, embarking on a routine NASA mission that could be the first of many to last a couple months longer than usual.