A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-21 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 Prichal module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.
A few hours ago, cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and Yozo Hirano returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, which landed in Kazakhstan, after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where they arrived on December 8. It was a space tourism journey set up in an agreement between the private company Space Adventures and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
A little while ago, the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft reached the International Space Station. It blasted off about six hours earlier from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with three people on board. It’s a mission totally oriented towards space tourism set up by the private company Space Adventures in a deal with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. For this reason, the Soyuz MS-20 will return to Earth on December 20.
Generally, Soyuz spacecraft carry International Space Station crew members on their rotation. In this case, the mission is very special because cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin traveled together with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano, who will be in charge of documenting this tourist mission.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its Crew-3 or SpaceX Crew-3 mission that began yesterday with its launch. After checking that the pressure is correctly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Raja Chari, Thomas Mashburn, Matthias Maurer, and Kayla Barron to enter the Station. The Endurance reached the Station about 40 minutes earlier than the original schedule.
A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-3 or SpaceX Crew-3 mission. After about eleven minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the third crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew. This is also the first mission for the Endurance and is the first to transport rookie astronauts.
