posted 09-10-2017 11:05 AM               

Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft, crew poised for launch

Soyuz MS-06 commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, along with flight engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA, are set to launch to the International Space Station on Tuesday (Sept. 12) at 4:17 p.m. CDT (2117 GMT or 3:17 a.m. Sept. 13 local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

They will dock the Soyuz to the space station's Poisk module at 9:57 p.m CDT (0257 GMT), following a four-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours later, the hatches between the Soyuz and space station will open and Misurkin, Vande Hei and Acaba will be greeted by Expedition 53 commander Randy Bresnik of NASA with Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency (ESA), both flight engineers.

Misurkin, Vande Hei and Acaba will stay onboard the station through February.

On Sunday (Sept. 10), the Soyuz-FG rocket topped with the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft was rolled out to the pad by train and erected into position.

posted 09-11-2017 08:00 AM               

Space station-bound crew to mark Sputnik 60th with model of first satellite

A small polished metal sphere with four protruding booms is poised to launch atop a Russian rocket into Earth orbit, replicating and paying tribute to the achievement that began the Space Age 60 years ago.

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), a miniature model of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, will lift off on board the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft, serving as the "zero-g indicator" for the mission's three-person crew. The scale Sputnik's flight will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the original made-made moon's launch on Oct. 4, 1957 from the same site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

posted 09-12-2017 04:18 PM               

Cosmonaut and two US astronauts launch to space station on Soyuz MS-06

A Russian cosmonaut and two American astronauts have left Earth for a five month stay on the International Space Station, lifting off from the same launch pad where the Space Age began almost 60 years ago.

Alexander Misurkin of Russia's space agency Roscosmos and his NASA crewmates Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba lifted off aboard the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft atop a Soyuz FG rocket from Site 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the same pad used to launch Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, on Oct. 4, 1957.

posted 09-12-2017 09:56 PM               

Soyuz MS-06 arrives at space station

Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday (Sept. 12), with the autonomous docking of Soyuz MS-06 to the Poisk module at 9:55 p.m. CDT (0255 GMT Sept. 13).

Following standard pressurization checks, the hatches between the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft and the space station will be opened.

posted 02-27-2018 05:09 PM               

Soyuz MS-06 undocks from space station

Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei initiated undocking of their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from the Poisk module at the International Space Station at 5:08 p.m. CST (2308 GMT) Tuesday (Feb. 27), beginning their return to Earth.

A four-minute, 39-second deorbit burn is scheduled for 7:38 p.m. CDT (0138 GMT), setting up a landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 9:31 p.m. CST (0331 GMT).

posted 02-27-2018 08:34 PM               

Two astronauts, cosmonaut land on Earth after 168 days on space station

Two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut have returned to Earth after spending 168 days on the International Space Station.

Expedition 54 crewmates Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos touched down aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft Tuesday (Feb. 27). After re-entering the atmosphere, the capsule descended to the ground under a parachute and, slowed by braking thrusters, landed on the snow-dusted, frigid steppe of Kazakhstan at 9:31 p.m. EST (0231 GMT; 8:31 a.m. Kazakh time on Feb. 28).