Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Oct. 1 after a journey of about eight hours, setting a U.S. spacecraft record for the trip from launch to docking.

The SpaceX Crew-13 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.

NASA said the Dragon spacecraft’s trip to the station took about seven hours and 50 minutes. The agency described it as the fastest launch-to-docking by a U.S. spacecraft in the station’s history.

The new arrivals joined the Expedition 75 crew, which was already living aboard the orbiting laboratory. They will take part in science experiments and station operations during a mission expected to last about six months.

Watkins, a geologist, is making her second trip to the station. Before becoming an astronaut, she studied the Martian surface and worked with NASA’s Curiosity rover science team.

Delaney is making his first spaceflight. NASA says he is a former naval aviator and test pilot who also worked as a research pilot at the agency’s Langley Research Center.

For Kutryk, the mission is his first spaceflight and the first time a Canadian astronaut has flown under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Canadian Space Agency says his work will include experiments on astronaut health and research intended to support future space exploration.

The mission is part of NASA’s continuing use of the space station as a research laboratory and a place to practice for longer missions beyond Earth orbit. The crew’s work includes testing how people and systems function in space over time.

Sources: NASA’s Crew-13 launch report, NASA’s crew biographies, Canadian Space Agency mission details, and Associated Press reporting.