Soyuz Spacecraft with Three Crewmates Heads to Station
The Soyuz MS-24 rocket with one NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts aboard blasts off toward the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are safely in orbit on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft after launching at 11:44 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (8:44 p.m. Baikonur time).
The Soyuz will dock to the space station’s Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m. A short time after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open.
NASA coverage of docking will begin at 2 p.m. on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
New Crew Launching Soon to Station Live on NASA TV
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara walks to the launch pad where she will launch aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.
NASA coverage now is underway for the launch of a crewed Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 p.m. Baikonur time). Launch and docking activities will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
After a two-orbit, three-hour journey, the Soyuz will dock to the space station’s Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m. A short time later, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the crew members will greet each other.
Once aboard station, the trio will join the space station’s Expedition 69 crew of NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Konstantin Borisov, and Sergey , as well ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
O’Hara will spend six months aboard the orbital laboratory, and Kononenko and Chub will both begin a year long stay on the orbital outpost. This will be O’Hara and Chub’s first spaceflight and the fifth flight for Kononenko.
Soyuz-24 mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
10:45 a.m. – Coverage begins for 11:44 a.m. launch.
2 p.m. – Coverage begins for 2:56 p.m. docking.
4:45 p.m. – Coverage begins for hatch opening and welcome remarks.
This bottom up view shows the Soyuz MS-24 rocket’s first stage boosters as the spacecraft stands at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Mission managers have given the go for the launch of three new crew members aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to the International Space Station at 11:44 a.m. EDT on Friday. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will ride the Soyuz crew ship and dock to the Rassvet module just over three hours later at 2:56 p.m.
Expedition 69 Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin will be on duty Friday monitoring the arrival of the new Soyuz. After the new crew docks and after leak and pressure checks, Prokopyev will open the station’s Rassvet hatch while Kononenko and Chub will open the Soyuz hatch. The new trio will enter the orbital outpost, join the station crew for a welcoming ceremony, participate in a safety briefing, and begin a six-month space research mission.
Prokopyev and Petelin continued preparing for the arrival of the new trio by setting up crew quarters for the new cosmonauts inside the orbital lab’s Roscosmos segment on Thursday. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio will configure O’Hara’s new crew quarters in the Columbus laboratory module on Friday before she arrives.
Prokopyev, Petelin, and Rubio are also preparing for their return to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on Sept. 27. The two cosmonauts have been testing the lower body negative pressure suit that may help their bodies adjust quicker to Earth’s gravity after living in weightlessness for just over one year. When Rubio lands with his Soyuz crewmates, he will have the record for the longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut at 371 days, surpassing astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s record of 355 days.
Rubio joined several of his Expedition 69 crewmates on Thursday for the Vascular Aging study collecting blood, urine, and saliva samples for analysis. Rubio along with astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, and Satoshi Furukawa assisted each other with the blood draws. Moghbeli of NASA closed out the study spinning samples in a centrifuge then stowing them in a science freezer.
Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) later trained to operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm and serviced laptop computers in the Columbus lab. Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) set up food and drinks for the arriving crew and collected water samples for analysis from the Kibo laboratory module.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov focused his activities on orbital plumbing and electronics maintenance during the first part of his day. In the afternoon, he checked out video hardware and laptop computers.
Midweek Sees the Crew Work Robotics, Lab Upkeep, and Microbes
Expedition 69 astronauts (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli, Frank Rubio, and Satoshi Furukawa join each other for lunch aboard the space station’s Unity module.
Robotics, lab maintenance, and microbiology were the top priorities aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 69 crew members also had time set aside for Earth science operations and biomedical duties.
Astrobee, the toaster-sized, cube-shaped free-flying robotic helper was activated today inside the Kibo laboratory module. Student-written algorithms were uplinked to the orbital outpost to control the robotic assistants, encourage problem-solving, and promote space education. Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) monitored the robotic activities and noted his impressions for review on the ground.
Three flight engineers worked across from Kibo inside the Columbus laboratory module finalizing the reorganization of the research facility from ESA (European Space Agency). NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio kicked off the work transferring research and cargo racks into slots aboard Columbus. He was joined during the morning by ESA Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen of who helped him move the racks back and forth. NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli concluded the work in the afternoon restoring the Columbus lab to its operating configuration and stowing hardware. The Columbus work was done to accommodate new exercise gear that will keep astronauts healthy and in shape during long-term space missions.
Mogensen also studied how to capture Earth’s reflective properties, also called albedo, by photographing the Moon during specific lunar phases. Results may provide new insights about Earth’s climate using satellite instruments. Moghbeli drew her blood sample at the end of the day for a glucose test as part of the Vascular Aging study that is monitoring accelerated aging-like symptoms that occur in astronauts’ arteries.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov was back on microbiology duty on Wednesday collecting and stowing microbe samples from surfaces inside the Zvezda service and Nauka science modules. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin studied fermentation to improve food preservation and preparation in space. Commander Sergey Prokopyev continued readying hardware for packing inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship that will take him, Petelin, and Rubio back to Earth at the end of September.
Exercise, Science Gear Work on Station as Next Crew Preps for Launch
The Soyuz MS-24 rocket that will launch three crew members to the space station on Friday, Sept. 15, is pictured standing at its launch pad in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Tuesday was filled with health research and science hardware maintenance for the Expedition 69 crew. The rocket to launch the next crew to live aboard the International Space Station has also rolled out to its launch pad.
Four flight engineers kicked off the day with a health examination checking vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli set up the medical gear, including the sensors and software that recorded the biomedical data, inside the Destiny laboratory module. She then joined Frank Rubio of NASA along with international astronauts Satoshi Furukawa and Andreas Mogensen for the periodic health checks.
Moghbeli moved on to the Columbus laboratory module reorganizing the ESA (European Space Agency) research facility and swapping research and cargo racks. She was making space inside Columbus to accommodate new exercise gear that will keep astronauts healthy and in shape during long-term space missions.
Mogensen of ESA attached breathing gear and sensors to himself and pedaled on an exercise cycle for an investigation measuring an astronaut’s aerobic capacity in microgravity. Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) assisted Mogensen setting up the exercise gear. He then serviced samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, a high temperature research device that safely measures thermophysical properties of a variety of materials.
Rubio worked in the Kibo laboratory module readying a plasma monitor for placement outside the orbital outpost and into the external microgravity environment. The ionospheric plasma research device will be robotically installed on the Bartolomeo science platform. After a series of checkouts, it will begin studying how upper atmosphere phenomena like auroras affect radio and satellite signals.
Microbiology and cargo transfers were the focus for the orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts throughout Tuesday. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent the day swabbing station surfaces for microbes then stowing the samples for later analysis. Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin studied how to maintain safe and sterile conditions for space biology research. Commander Sergey Prokopyev checked items for packing inside the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship that will return him, Petelin, and Rubio back to Earth at the end of September.
Meanwhile, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-24 rocket has rolled out to its launch pad counting down to a lift off at 11:44 a.m. EDT on Friday. The Soyuz crew ship will carry NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on a short ride to the station that will see them dock to the Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m. the same day.
