posted 02-19-2020 04:40 PM               

Russia replaces two cosmonauts on next space station crew for 'medical reasons'

Two Russian cosmonauts have been removed from the next scheduled launch to the International Space Station "for medical reasons," according to the Russian space agency.

In a statement posted to its website on Wednesday (Feb. 19), Roscosmos said that Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin will no longer fly to the space station in April, and will instead be replaced by backup crew members.

"The positions of the commander and flight engineer of the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft will now be taken by Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner," the agency said. "The changes will affect only the Russian part of the crew."

posted 04-06-2020 10:17 AM               

Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft, crew poised for launch

Soyuz MS-16 commander Anatoli Ivanishin of Roscosmos, together with flight engineer Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, are set to launch to the International Space Station on Thursday (April 9) at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT; 1:05 p.m. local) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Credit: Roscosmos

They will dock Soyuz MS-16 to the station's Poisk module at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 GMT) the same day, after a four-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours later, the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station will open and Ivanishin, Vagner and Cassidy will be greeted by Expedition 62 commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and his crewmates, NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir, who will complete their station mission and return to Earth April 17 on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft.

On Monday (April 6), the Soyuz-2.1a rocket topped with the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft was rolled out to Pad 31/6 by train and erected into position.

Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

posted 04-09-2020 03:20 AM               

Soyuz crew 'socially distances' from Earth, launches for space station

A former U.S. Navy SEAL, a Russian fighter pilot and a Russian engineer have taken social distancing to its extreme, launching off Earth for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft on Thursday (April 9). Riding atop the first Soyuz 2.1a rocket to fly with a crew from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the three crewmates launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT or 1:05 p.m. local Kazakh time) on a six-hour journey to reach the space station.

posted 04-09-2020 09:16 AM               

Soyuz MS-16 docks at space station

Cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos with astronaut Chris Cassidy of NASA arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday (April 9), with the autonomous docking of Soyuz MS-16 to the Poisk module at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT).

Following standard pressurization checks, the hatches between the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft and the space station will be opened.

posted 10-21-2020 06:58 PM               

Soyuz MS-16 undocks from space station

Cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy departed the International Space Station to return to Earth on Wednesday (Oct. 21), undocking their Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft from the Zvezda service module at 7:32 p.m. EDT (2332 GMT).

A deorbit burn at 10:00 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT Oct. 22) will set up a landing southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 10:55 p.m. EDT (0255 GMT or 8:55 a.m. Oct. 22 Kazakh time).

posted 10-21-2020 09:57 PM               

Soyuz MS-16 crew lands from space station ahead of ISS 20-year milestone

A NASA astronaut "sealed" 20 years of crewed operations on the International Space Station with his and his two crewmates' safe return to Earth.

Chris Cassidy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, left the space station and landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan with cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos on Wednesday (Oct. 21). Their Russian Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft touched down southeast of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan at 10:54 p.m. EDT (0254 GMT or 8:54 a.m. Oct. 22 Kazakh time).