2024-09-14 01:14:31
Despite the serious political tensions, the USA and Russia are continuing to work together in space travel. An astronaut has now been given the opportunity to travel to the ISS, where there is a lot going on.
An American and two Russians flew to the International Space Station ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft in a rush of three hours and almost ten minutes. The “Soyuz MS-26” with astronaut Don Pettit and cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner on board entered orbit as planned after launching from the Russian spaceport in Baikonur in the steppe of the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. At the scheduled arrival at the outpost of humanity at 9:32 p.m. CEST, Roscosmos reported a successful docking.
The “Soyuz MS-26” also had 130 kilograms of cargo on board, including equipment for experiments and the astronauts’ personal belongings. The capsule is expected to remain in space for 202 days.
Despite the serious political tensions in the wake of Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia and the USA continue to work together in space travel. Astronauts repeatedly use Russian spacecraft to get to the ISS.
Late in the evening, Roscosmos boss Yuri Borisov spoke out in favor of extending the agreement with the USA on joint space flights, which is valid until 2025. This is important for the reliable operation of the ISS, he said. At the same time, he offered help to the US space agency NASA because astronauts could not return to Earth with the “Starliner” as planned. The USA has also helped Russia in the past.
Also on board the ISS are astronaut Suni Williams and astronaut Barry Wilmore, whose journey did not go according to plan. Their spaceship “Starliner” returned safely to Earth on Saturday. However, NASA considered it too unsafe for the two to fly back on the faulty spaceship. The two astronauts are now to spend eight months in space – instead of eight days as originally planned. Russia could, however, make a Soyuz return trip possible.
In addition to these five astronauts, there are another seven cosmonauts and astronauts on board the ISS. With the five Russians and seven Americans, the crew is now significantly larger than usual.