A veteran cosmonaut and two first-time astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Wednesday (July 22), two months later than had originally been planned.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui lifted off at 5:02 p.m. EDT (2102 GMT; 3:02 a.m. local time) onboard Russia's Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Following a four-orbit rendezvous plan, the trio were set to arrive at the space station six hours later at about 10:46 p.m. EDT (0246 GMT) for a docking with the Rassvet mini research module. Once on board the outpost, Kononenko, Lindgren and Yui will join the ISS Expedition 44 crew of Gennady Padalka, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko for a planned five month stay.
Robert Pearlman
Soyuz TMA-17M docks to space station
Commander Oleg Kononenko and flight engineers Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui safely docked Soyuz TMA-17M to the Earth-facing side of the Rassvet mini research module at the International Space Station on Wednesday (July 22) at 9:45 p.m. CDT (0245 GMT July 23) as the two spacecraft were orbiting 250 miles above the Earth, tracking over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador.
The Soyuz arrived at the space station with only one of its two solar panel arrays deployed, but it did not hinder a successful docking. The crew reported that the panel extended after the docking.
Hatches between the Soyuz and station were opened at 11:56 p.m. CDT after leak and pressure checks.
The Soyuz TMA-17M crew then floated into their new home for the next five months for a welcoming ceremony and congratulatory calls from family, friends and officials at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Three space station crewmembers made a rare nighttime return to Earth on Friday (Dec. 11), safely landing in Kazakhstan after 141 days in orbit.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) touched down at about 8:12 a.m. EST (1312 GMT or 7:12 p.m. local time) on board their Russian Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft. The parachute- and thruster-assisted landing put the trio down northeast of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan about two hours after sunset.
The return marked only the sixth time that a Soyuz crew came home from the International Space Station at night, after more than 40 such landings.
See here to discuss the Soyuz TMA-17M mission to the space station.
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