posted 12-15-2017 08:20 AM               

Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft, crew poised for launch

Soyuz MS-07 commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, together with flight engineers Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), are set to launch to the International Space Station at 1:21 a.m. CST (0721 GMT or 1:21 p.m. Kazakh local) on Sunday (Dec. 17) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Credit: GCTC/Andrey Shelepin

They will dock the Soyuz to the station's Rassvet module at 2:42 a.m CST (0842 GMT) on Tuesday (Dec. 19), after a two-day rendezvous.

About two hours later, the hatches between the Soyuz and station will open and Shkaplerov, Kanai and Tingle will be greeted by Expedition 54 commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, with Mark Vende Hei and Joe Acaba, both of NASA and both flight engineers.

Shkaplerov, Kanai and Tingle will stay on the station through April.

On Friday (Dec. 15), the Soyuz-FG rocket was transported to the pad by train and erected into position.

posted 12-17-2017 01:55 AM               

Russian, Japanese and US crew launch to space station on Soyuz MS-07

Three new crew members for the International Space Station are on their way to the orbiting outpost, where they will begin their six month expedition by ringing in the New Year circling Earth.

Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Norishige "Neemo" Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and astronaut Scott "Maker" Tingle of NASA launched on board Russia's Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday (Dec. 17). Their Soyuz FG rocket lifted off from Pad 1/5, also known as "Gagarin's Start," at 2:21 a.m. EST (0721 GMT or 1:21 p.m. local Kazakh time).

posted 12-19-2017 04:24 AM               

Soyuz MS-07 arrives at space station

Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) arrived at the International Space Station as scheduled on Tuesday (Dec. 19), with the autonomous docking of Soyuz MS-07 to the Rassvet module at 2:39 a.m. CST (0839 GMT).

Following standard pressurization checks, the hatches between the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft and the space station were opened at 4:55 a.m. CST (1055 GMT).

posted 06-03-2018 04:25 AM               

Soyuz MS-07 undocks from space station

Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and astronaut Scott Tingle of NASA undocked their Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft from the Rassvet module at the International Space Station at 4:16 a.m. CDT (0916 GMT) Sunday (June 3), beginning their return to Earth.

A deorbit burn is scheduled for 6:47 a.m. CDT (1147 GMT), setting up a landing southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 7:40 a.m. CDT (1240 GMT).

posted 06-03-2018 07:40 AM               

Soyuz MS-07 returns station crew to Earth after 168 days in space

A Russian spacecraft carrying three crew members home from a five month stay on the International Space Station returned to Earth on Sunday (June 3).

Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Norishige "Neemo" Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and astronaut Scott "Maker" Tingle of NASA touched down aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Descending under a parachute, the gumdrop-shape capsule was further slowed by braking thrusters and landed southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:39 a.m. EDT (1239 GMT or 6:39 p.m. local Kazakh time).