The International Space Station (ISS) will be a full house this week: A new crew, including Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, and the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, are traveling to the orbiting laboratory today.
A Soyuz rocket carrying the trio blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:57 a.m. EDT, NASA said in a press release. The astronauts started their six-hour journey to the space station and according to a recent NASA tweet, they are safely on orbit and solar arrays have successfully deployed on their Soyuz vehicle.
3-2-1… LIFTOFF! 🚀 At 9:57am ET, @Astro_Jessica 🇺🇸, cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka 🇷🇺 & spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori 🇦🇪 launched on a journey to their new home aboard the @Space_Station. Tune in: https://t.co/x0oE4sFcsu pic.twitter.com/ETKVudGbNe
— NASA (@NASA) September 25, 2019
A trio of space travelers, including @Astro_Jessica, is now safely on orbit and solar arrays have successfully deployed on their Soyuz spacecraft. Get updates about their six-hour journey to the @Space_Station: https://t.co/FRrjhIw77o pic.twitter.com/uJ5jfL1s38
— NASA (@NASA) September 25, 2019
The four-orbit trip will be the third spaceflight for Skripochka and the first one for Almansoori and Meir, NASA said in a press statement. Almansoori will spend eight days at the orbiting laboratory as a spaceflight participant under a contract between the UAE and Roscosmos.
It’s launch day! Three space travelers, including @Astro_Jessica 🇺🇸, cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka 🇷🇺 & spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori 🇦🇪, are set to leave Earth for a journey to the @Space_Station. Here’s how to watch starting at 9am ET: https://t.co/gOxX8ZucqK pic.twitter.com/6WPuqHBHWM
— NASA (@NASA) September 25, 2019
“This mission is a great milestone for me, personally, and for my country, as well, the United Arab Emirates, and for the whole Arab region,”Almansoori said. “For the past 30 years, there was no astronaut from our region, and today I am really proud and honored to have the privilege to represent the whole Arab region.”
What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space. Caught the second stage in progress! We can’t wait to welcome you onboard, crew of Soyuz 61! pic.twitter.com/Ws7tInY58P
— Christina H Koch (@Astro_Christina) September 25, 2019
The crew is expected to dock at the space station’s Zvezda service module at 3:45 p.m. EDT. Once they arrive at the orbiting laboratory, they will be welcomed by station commander and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano.
Over the next seven days, there will be nine crew members at the orbiting laboratory until Oct. 3, when Hague and Ovchinin, who are wrapping up a mission of more than 200 days, will travel back to Earth with Almansoori on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft. Meir and Skripochka are expected to spend over six months at the space station, where the will continue to work on hundreds of biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science experiments.
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