NASA's Kate Rubins, two cosmonauts dock with ISS

[Judi Lynn]

OCT. 14, 2020 / 2:27 AM / UPDATED AT 5:18 AM
By Darryl Coote

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft successfully launched into orbit early Wednesday from Kazakhstan with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov aboard with their final destination the International Space Station.

The spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:45 a.m. EDT for the two-orbit, three-hour flight to ISS where the crew of Expedition 64 will begin their six-month mission on the space outpost.

The capsule of the Soyuz aircraft docked with the Earth-facing-side of the station's Russian segment at 4:48 a.m. ETD with the hatch to the ISS scheduled to open at 6:45 a.m. ETD.

Link to tweet

This is Rubins' second voyage into space after she was aboard the first test flight of the then-new Soyuz MS spacecraft that launched from Kazakhstan to the ISS in July 2016, according to NASA.

More:
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/10/14/NASAs-Kate-Rubins-two-cosmonauts-dock-with-ISS/7251602650739/?ur3=1

[Judi Lynn]

1. Russia launches fresh crew to ISS on fast-track journey

OCTOBER 14, 2020
by Christopher Rickleton

Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut blasted off on a fast-track journey to the International Space Station Wednesday, in the first such launch aboard a Russian capsule since SpaceX's game-changing debut manned flight from US soil.

Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos and NASA's Kathleen Rubins launched from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0545 GMT on Wednesday.

A NASA TV commentator said everything was normal, citing communications between Russian mission control and the crew, while Roscosmos said the capsule had successfully gone into orbit.

Their journey will be the first manned flight to the ISS to last just over three hours before docking—a new fast-track profile that takes half the time of standard trips to the orbital lab.

Only an unmanned Progress cargo space ship has previously used this profile, which requires just two orbits before docking.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-russia-fresh-crew-iss-fast-track.html

[hunter]

2. That's a pretty spacecraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS

[Judi Lynn]

3. Great link, a lot to absorb. The images are wonderful. The craft did look so different. Thanks. n/t

[ffr]

4. On the surface, using Russian rockets to deliver ISS crews is getting questionable

Is NASA Finally Done Paying Russia for Trips to Space?

Given the recent success of the joint NASA-SpaceX Crew-2 mission, in which astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were successfully delivered to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, it’s reasonable to ask why NASA just dished out $90.25 million to Roscosmos for Rubins’ seat on a Soyuz spacecraft. NASA said it did so to “ensure the agency keeps its commitment for safe operations via a continuous U.S. presence aboard the International Space Station until commercial crew capabilities are routinely available.” - Gizmodo

With all of tRump's ties to Russia and with $400,000,000 in short-term loans to foreign entities, this becomes all the more questionable.