Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut were sent to the International Space Station with the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman became the first NASA administrator to visit the Baikonur Cosmodrome after 8 years.
Senior executives of NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) met today on the occasion of a rare event. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) with the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17.47 GMT. The crew and Soyuz vehicle reached orbit approximately 10 minutes after launch. Thus, the crew began their journey to the ISS, which would take approximately three hours.
Docking with the ISS is expected to take place at 20.56 GMT. Shortly after docking, the hatches between Soyuz and ISS are planned to be opened and the crew will move to the station. The crew is expected to stay on the ISS for about eight months and return to Earth in April next year after completing their mission.
Isaacman is the first NASA administrator to visit the Baikonur base
The launch was overseen by Roscosmos President Dmitry Bakanov and NASA President Jared Isaacman. Since 2018, Isaacman became the first NASA administrator to visit Russia's Baikonur base in Kazakhstan in 8 years. Such contacts between Russia and the USA were blocked during the reign of former US President Joe Biden. - ASTANA