Space Stations

The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three new crew members on board. It docked with the Station’s Rassvet module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.

Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will spend about a year on the International Space Station while Loral O’Hara will spend about six months there and return to Earth with different traveling companions. Expedition 69 is almost over, as in less than two weeks, the crew members who’ve been on the Station for a year will return to Earth marking the start of Expedition 70.

The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft approaching the International Space Station in its Crew-7 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station completing the first part of its Crew-7 or SpaceX Crew-7 mission that began with its launch almost 30 hours earlier. After checking that the pressure gets properly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov to enter the Station and start their mission, which will last about six months.

The Progress MS-24 cargo spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Progress MS-24 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in the mission also referred to as Progress 85 or 85P. The Russian cargo spacecraft, which blasted off last Wednesday, August 24, Russian time, carries food, water, scientific experiments, fuel, and various hardware. Yesterday, the Station performed a maneuver using the Zvezda module’s engines to move from away the trajectory of a space debris but that had no consequences on the arrival of the Progress MS-24.

The Cygnus S.S. Laurel Clark cargo captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Wednesday, August 2, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Woody Hoburg, assisted by his colleague Frank Rubio, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.

The Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in its CRS-28 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its CRS-28 mission. Astronaut Woody Hoburg monitored the operation assisted by his fellow astronaut Frank Rubio, but the cargo spacecraft, which blasted off when it was Monday morning in the USA, completed the maneuvers automatically without any problem.