Soyuz Hatch Opens, Expedition 69 Expands to 10 Crewmates
The 10-person Expedition 69 crew is now aboard the space station. Front row from left are, Roscosmos cosmonauts Konstantin Borisov, Nikolai Chub, and Oleg Kononenko, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. In the back are, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, and JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. Credit: NASA TV
The hatches between the International Space Station and the newly arrived Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft officially opened at 5:16 p.m. EDT. The arrival of three new crew members to the existing seven people already aboard for Expedition 69 temporarily increases the station’s population to 10.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub joined the space station’s Expedition 69 crew of NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Konstantin Borisov, and Sergey Prokopyev, 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, while Kononenko and Chub will both spend one year on the orbital outpost.
On Sept. 27, Rubio, Petelin, and Prokopyev will return to Earth on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft. The trio have been aboard the orbital laboratory since arriving Sept. 21, 2022.
The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub aboard approaches the space station for a docking. Credit: NASA TV
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station at 2:53 p.m. EDT while the station was traveling 260 miles over Ukraine, south of Kiev. Coverage of hatch opening will resume at 4:45 p.m. and will be available on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
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 Prokopyev, 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, while Kononenko and Chub will both spend one year on the orbital outpost.
On Sept. 27, the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft will return carrying NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back to Earth.
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.
