Amidst escalating tensions over the invasion of Ukraine, two Russian cosmonauts and a US NASA astronaut have successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The crew, consisting of cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, along with astronaut Loral O’Hara, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, confirmed that the crew docked at the ISS three hours after liftoff.
This latest mission brings the total number of crew members on the ISS to ten, including representatives from the US, Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency. The ISS remains a significant symbol of cooperation between the US and Russia amidst strained geopolitical relations. Kononenko highlighted this aspect during a pre-flight press conference, emphasizing the care and reliance astronauts and cosmonauts have for each other in space.
The arrival of O’Hara, Chub, and Kononenko temporarily increases the station’s population to ten individuals for Expedition 69. Kononenko, at 59 years old, has the remarkable distinction of setting a new record for the longest time spent in space, surpassing a thousand days by the end of his one-year stay. Chub, whose lifelong dream was to travel to space, and O’Hara, on her maiden voyage, are scheduled to spend one year and six months on the ISS, respectively.
Notably, this launch comes on the heels of Russia’s recent setback with the Luna-25 module, which suffered an incident during pre-landing maneuvers and crashed on the Moon’s surface. Despite this setback, Russia remains committed to independent space exploration, especially as it faces financial troubles, corruption scandals, and growing isolation from the West due to its actions in Ukraine.
Sources:
NASA Twitter
International Space Station Twitter