posted 09-13-2023 01:40 PM               

Soyuz MS-24 crew, rocket poised for launch

Soyuz MS-24 commander Oleg Kononenko and flight engineer Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos, together with NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, are set to launch to the International Space Station on Friday (Sept. 15) at 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 GMT or 8:44 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz is scheduled to dock to the station's Rassvet mini-research module at about 2:56 p.m. EDT (1856 GMT) the same day, after a two-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours after docking, the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station will open and Kononenko, Chub and O'Hara will be greeted by Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos; NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Jasmin Moghbeli; European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

O'Hara will spend about six months on the space station, while Kononenko and Chub both will spend a year on the orbital outpost. This will be Kononenko’s fifth flight into space and the first for Chub and O'Hara. O'Hara is the second NASA astronaut to fly on a Soyuz under a new crew barter agreement since U.S. commercial crew vehicles began flying.

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), the Soyuz-2.1a rocket topped with the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft was rolled out to Pad 31/6 by train and erected into position.

posted 09-15-2023 10:55 AM               

Russia's Soyuz MS-24 launches crew for up to yearlong stay on space station

Two Russian cosmonauts have left Earth to spend a year aboard the International Space Station, flying with an American crewmate who will come home after six months.

Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos and Loral O'Hara of NASA launched together on Russia's Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Friday (Sept. 15). The three lifted off at at 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 GMT or 8:44 p.m. local time) atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

posted 09-15-2023 01:54 PM               

Soyuz MS-24 docks at space station

Soyuz MS-24 arrived at the International Space Station on Friday (Sept. 15), completing an autonomous docking to the Rassvet mini-research module at 2:53 p.m. EST (1853 GMT).

Following standard pressurization checks, the hatches between the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft and the space station will be opened.

posted 04-05-2024 11:19 PM               

Soyuz MS-24 departs space station

On Friday (April 5) at 11:54 p.m. EDT (0354 GMT April 6), Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus, undocked from the International Space Station on board the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to begin their journey back to Earth.

The Soyuz is heading for a parachute-assisted landing on Saturday on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan. The touchdown is scheduled for 3:17 a.m. EDT (0717 GMT or 12:17 p.m. local time).

posted 04-06-2024 09:39 AM               

Soyuz MS-24 crew returns from space station

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya returned to Earth from the International Space Station on Saturday.

The trio made a safe, parachute-assisted landing aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 3:17 a.m. EDT (0717 GMT or 12:17 p.m. local time), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

O'Hara launched on Sept. 15, 2023, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who both will remain aboard the space station to complete a one-year mission. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya launched aboard Soyuz MS-25 on March 23 along with NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who will remain aboard the orbiting laboratory until this fall.

O'Hara spent a total of 204 days in space as part of her first spaceflight. Novitskiy has logged a total of 545 days in space across four spaceflights and Vasilevskaya has spent 14 days in space as part of her first spaceflight.

Supporting NASA's Artemis campaign, O'Hara's mission helped prepare for exploration of the moon and build foundations for crewed missions to Mars. She completed approximately 3,264 orbits of Earth and a journey of more than 86.5 million miles. O'Hara worked on scientific activities aboard the space station, including investigating heart health, cancer treatments and space manufacturing techniques during her stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Following post-landing medical checks, the crew returned to the recovery staging city in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. O'Hara then boarded a NASA plane bound for her return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

With the undocking of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with O'Hara, Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya, Expedition 71 officially began aboard the station. Led by Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko as commander, the crew is comprised by Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, as well as NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Jeannette Epps and will remain on the orbiting laboratory until this fall.