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Three Russian cosmonauts arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, docking their Soyuz capsule with the outpost for a mission that continues a 20-year shared Russian-U.S. presence in orbit despite tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The arrival of the latest cosmonaut team – warmly welcomed by four Americans, two Russians and a German crewmate already aboard – came a day after the European Space Agency (ESA) announced it had suspended a joint robotic rover mission to Mars with Russia due to the Ukraine conflict.
The rendezvous with the space station capped a flight of three hours and 10 minutes following liftoff of the Soyuz spacecraft from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
“Congratulations on the successful docking,” a voice from Russia’s mission control said moments later, according to an English translator speaking during a live NASA webcast of the event.
Link-up of the space vehicles took place as the Soyuz and space station flew some 250 miles (400 km) above eastern Kazakhstan, a NASA commentator said.
About 2-1/2 hours later, after the passageway between the station and Soyuz was pressurized, two sets of hatches were opened and the three smiling Soyuz astronauts, dressed in yellow flight suits, floated head-first, one by one, into the ISS.
They were greeted warmly with hugs and handshakes by all seven existing space station occupants who were waiting for them on the other side of the short corridor.
The Soyuz team, just beginning a science mission set to last 6-1/2 months, was led by commander Oleg Artemyev, accompanied spaceflight rookies Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov.
They will be replacing three current ISS crew members scheduled to fly back to Earth on March 30 – cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov and U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
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Source : france24
