The Soyuz MS-20 crew ship blasts off on time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan toward the space station. Credit: Roscosmos
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano are safely in orbit on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft after launching at 2:38 a.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (12:38 p.m. Baikonur time).
After a four-orbit, six-hour journey, the Soyuz will dock to the station’s Poisk module at 8:41 a.m. About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the crew members will greet each other.
NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 8 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Three Visitors Prepare to Launch to Station Live on NASA TV
At center, Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yozo Hirano (left) and Yusaku Maezawa (right) pose for crew portrait.
NASA TV coverage now is underway for the launch of a veteran Russian cosmonaut and two Japanese private citizens to the International Space Station. Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin joins spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:38 a.m. EST (12:38 p.m. Baikonur time). Launch and docking activities will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
After a four-orbit, six-hour journey, the Soyuz will dock to the station’s Poisk module at 8:41 a.m. About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the crew members will greet each other.
Once on station, the trio will join Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov and cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, as well as NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, for approximately 12 days on the orbital laboratory.
On Sunday, Dec. 19, Misurkin, Maezawa, and Hirano will complete their mission, undocking the Soyuz from the Poisk module before heading for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:18 p.m. EST (9:18 a.m. Monday, Dec. 20, Kazakhstan time).
Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
Wednesday, Dec. 8
2 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for 2:38 a.m. launch.
8 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for 8:41 a.m. docking.
10:15 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for hatch opening and welcome remarks.
Sunday, Dec. 19
3 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for hatch closing at 3:32 p.m.
6:30 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for undocking at 6:54 p.m.
9 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for deorbit and landing. Landing is targeted for 10:18 p.m.
This will be Misurkin’s third flight into space and the first flight for Maezawa and Mirano, who are making their trek into space under a contract between Space Adventures and Roscosmos.
Crew Keeps Up Research as Station Visitors Prep for Wednesday Launch
This view from NASA spacewalker Thomas Marshburn’s camera points downward toward the space station with the Earth 265 miles below.
A Soyuz crew ship is counting down to its launch early Wednesday carrying three individuals to the International Space Station for an eleven-day visit. Back in space, the seven-member Expedition 66 crew moved along Tuesday studying space physics and biomedical science.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will lead Japanese spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano aboard the Soyuz MS-20 crew ship when it lifts off from Kazakhstan at 2:38 a.m. EST (12:38 p.m. Kazakh time) on Wednesday. The trio will dock to the Poisk module at 8:41 a.m. and enter the station to greet the Expedition 66 crew about an hour-and-a-half later. Live NASA TV begins its live launch coverage on Wednesday at 2 a.m. on the agency’s website, and the NASA app.
Onboard the orbital lab today, the station residents stayed focused on microgravity science observing a variety of space phenomena. Results from the multitude of ongoing space investigations provide new insights and benefits difficult to achieve in Earth’s gravity.
NASA crewmates Raja Chari and Kayla Barron partnered up inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance inspecting components inside the vehicle. Chari started his day spinning his blood samples in a centrifuge and stowing them in a science freezer. Barron took a cognition test in the morning then collected sound level readings throughout the space station.
The station’s five astronauts also joined cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov and practiced an emergency drill during Tuesday afternoon. The septet reviewed roles and responsibilities, coordinated communications with controllers on Earth, and mimicked the actions necessary for different emergency scenarios.
NASA Administrator Pays Tribute to Senior Advisor Mark Geyer
The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the passing of Mark Geyer, senior advisor to associate administrator Bob Cabana, and former center director at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston:
NASA’s Laser Communications Tech, Science Experiment Safely in Space
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and a NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory space weather payload to study the Sun’s radiation lifted off at 5:19 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
