posted 10-11-2020 07:09 PM               

Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, crew poised for launch

Soyuz MS-17 commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, together with flight engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, are set to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday (Oct. 14) at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT; 10:45 a.m. local) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Credit: NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin

They will dock Soyuz MS-17 to the station's Rassvet module at 4:52 a.m. EDT (0852 GMT) the same day, after a two-orbit rendezvous. The mission marks the first crewed use of a new "ultrafast" flight plan, which will see the Soyuz arrive at the station within three hours of its launch.

About two hours after docking, the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station will open and Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov and Rubins will be greeted by Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and his crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, who will complete their station mission and return to Earth Oct. 21 on the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft.

On Sunday (Oct. 11), the Soyuz-2.1a rocket topped with the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft was rolled out to Pad 31/6 by train and erected into position.

Credit: RSC Energia

posted 10-14-2020 01:00 AM               

Soyuz MS-17 crew launches on 'ultrafast' two-orbit flight to space station

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have launched to the International Space Station just ahead of and to extend 20 years of a continuous human presence in Earth orbit.

Kate Rubins of NASA, together with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos, lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (Oct. 14). Their launch, atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket, began at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT; 10:45 a.m. local Kazakh time).

The three crewmates are scheduled to dock their Soyuz at the station's Rassvet module at 4:52 a.m. EDT (0852 GMT) after a two-orbit rendezvous.

posted 10-14-2020 09:02 AM               

Hatches open, station crew expands to six

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos joined Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner aboard the International Space Station when the hatches between the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft and the orbiting laboratory opened at 7:07 a.m. EDT (1107 GMT).

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft docked to the space station at 4:48 a.m. EDT (0848 GMT) while both spacecraft were flying about 261 miles (420 kilometers) above the Mediterranean Sea. At three hours and three minutes after launch, Soyuz MS-17 set a new record for the time it has taken a spacecraft to reach the space station.

The arrival temporarily restores the station's crew complement to six for the remainder of Expedition 63.

Expedition 64 begins Wednesday, Oct. 21, with the departure of Cassidy, Vagner, and Ivanishin in the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft that brought them to the station on April 9. Cassidy will hand command of the station to Ryzhikov during a ceremony with all crew members that is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. EDT (2015 GMT) Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The Expedition 64 crew will conduct research in technology development, Earth science, biology, human research and more. During Rubins' first spaceflight in 2016, she became the first person to sequence DNA in space. Research conducted in microgravity helps NASA prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, and contributes to improvements for life on Earth.

This is the second spaceflight for Rubins and Ryzhikov. Kud-Sverchkov becomes the 241st person to visit the unique microgravity laboratory, and the trio will be aboard to celebrate the 20th anniversary of uninterrupted human presence since the Expedition 1 crew arrived Nov. 2, 2000. Humanity's home in space has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from people in 108 countries and areas.

During Expedition 64, the arrival of Crew-1 aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon on the first operational commercial mission to the space station will bring four more crew members, expanding a long-duration Expedition crew to seven people for the first time. Crew-1 is currently targeted for launch in November.

posted 03-12-2021 12:00 PM               

Station crew to relocate Soyuz to make room for new crewmates

Three residents of the International Space Station will take a spin around their orbital neighborhood in the Soyuz MS-17 on Friday, March 19, relocating the spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of the next set of crew members.

Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA and Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, both of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, will undock from the Earth-facing port of the station's Rassvet module at 12:38 p.m. EDT [1638 GMT] and dock again at the space-facing Poisk docking port at 1:07 p.m. EDT [1707 GMT].

The relocation will free up the Rassvet port for the docking of another Soyuz vehicle, designated Soyuz MS-18, which will carry three Expedition 65 crew members to the station next month. NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos' Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov are scheduled to launch to the station Friday, April 9, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

posted 03-19-2021 12:30 PM               

Crewmates complete short trip to relocate Soyuz

Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov and flight engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, both of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, together with flight engineer Kate Rubins of NASA, undocked their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the station's Rassvet mini-research module on Friday (March 19) at 12:38 p.m. EDT (1638 GMT).

Ryzhikov then successfully piloted the spacecraft to a docking with the space-facing port on the Poisk module at 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT).

The relocation opens the Rassvet port for the arrival on April 9 of Soyuz MS-18 with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei to join the space station's Expedition 65 crew.

posted 04-16-2021 08:34 PM               

Soyuz MS-17 undocks from space station

Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins departed the International Space Station to return to Earth on Friday (April 16), undocking their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Poisk module at 9:34 p.m. EDT (0134 GMT April 17).

A deorbit burn at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) will set up a landing southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 12:56 a.m. EDT (0456 GMT or 10:56 a.m. local Kazakh time).

posted 04-16-2021 11:57 PM               

Soyuz MS-17 crew returns to Earth after 185 days on space station

Two cosmonauts and an astronaut have landed safely from the International Space Station after spending 185 days aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and Kate Rubins of NASA touched down on the steppe of Kazakhstan on Saturday (April 17), riding aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft. The three crewmates landed southeast of the remote Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan at 12:55 a.m. EDT (0455 GMT or 10:55 a.m. local Kazakh time).