Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-09-2020 10:53 AM
This thread is intended for comments and questions about the Soyuz MS-17 mission to the International Space Station.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-09-2020 11:03 AM
A press release from the Zhukovsky Air Base reports that the cosmonauts assigned to Soyuz MS-17, set to launch in October, are Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, rather than Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin as previously expected.
Tikhonov and Babkin had been removed from the Soyuz MS-16 crew after Tikhonov suffered an eye injury. It was hoped that Tikhonov's recovery would allow him to fly in the fall, but apparently that was not to be.
Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov's backups are Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov.
The third seat on Soyuz MS-17, presumably to be filled by a NASA astronaut, has not yet been announced and may not be Stephen Bowen, as previously expected.
East-Frisian Member
Posts: 615 From: Germany Registered: Apr 2005
posted 05-09-2020 02:54 PM
It works not good for Tikhonov.
Delta7 Member
Posts: 1651 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
posted 05-09-2020 06:12 PM
Poor Tikhonov is seemingly snakebit. I think he holds the record for number of times bumped from a spaceflight. I think this has been going on with him for several years.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-03-2020 09:32 AM
NASA release
NASA Assigns Astronaut Kate Rubins to Expedition 63/64 Space Station Crew
NASA has assigned astronaut Kate Rubins to a six-month mission to the International Space Station as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 63/64 crew.
Rubins, along with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch Oct. 14 on the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Among some of the hundreds of experiments ongoing during her mission, Rubins will conduct research using the Cold Atom Lab to study the use of laser-cooled atoms for future quantum sensors, and will work on a cardiovascular experiment that builds on an investigation she completed during her previous mission.
NASA selected Rubins as an astronaut in 2009, and she completed her first spaceflight in 2016 as an Expedition 48/49 crew member. She launched July 6, 2016, and spent 115 days in space, during which she conducted two spacewalks totaling 12 hours and 46 minutes before her return to Earth Oct. 29, 2016. During her stay on the space station, Rubins helped advance important science and research and became the first person to sequence DNA in space.
Born in Farmington, Connecticut, and raised in Napa, California, Rubins received a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego, in 1999 and a doctorate in cancer biology in 2005 from Stanford University School of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry and Department of Microbiology and Immunology in Palo Alto, California. Before joining NASA, Rubins worked as a fellow/principal investigator at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge and headed 14 researchers studying viral diseases that primarily affect Central and West Africa.
issman1 Member
Posts: 1082 From: UK Registered: Apr 2005
posted 06-03-2020 10:10 AM
Good for Kate but what happened to Steve Bowen?
Tom Member
Posts: 1627 From: New York Registered: Nov 2000
posted 06-03-2020 10:26 AM
That's around the same timeframe that astronaut Epps was removed from the Soyuz MS-9 crew two years ago.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-03-2020 10:44 AM
Bowen has not been assigned to this mission for several months now. Before Rubins was announced, Tom Marshburn was seen on schedules for Soyuz MS-17.
David C Member
Posts: 1267 From: Lausanne Registered: Apr 2012
posted 06-03-2020 12:01 PM
Wasn’t MS-16 meant to be the last manned launch from Gagarin’s Start?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-03-2020 12:14 PM
Soyuz MS-15 was the last to launch from Site 1, pending possible upgrades to support Soyuz 2 boosters.
Soyuz MS-17, like Soyuz MS-16, will launch from Site 31.
issman1 Member
Posts: 1082 From: UK Registered: Apr 2005
posted 06-03-2020 04:15 PM
The original schedule had MS-17 with Bowen, MS-18 with Rubins and MS-19 with Marshburn.
But the Russian crews that were assigned also swapped. Bowen and Marshburn likely returned to NASA Houston as Mark Vande Hei backed up Kate.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-13-2020 09:29 PM
NASA video
Tune in live as three space travelers launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT).
Astronaut Kate Rubins of NASA, and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will lift off aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft for a two-orbit, three-hour journey to dock to the orbiting laboratory. Live coverage of the launch begins at 12:45 a.m. EDT.
Mike Dixon Member
Posts: 1543 From: Kew, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2003
posted 10-14-2020 05:49 AM
Docking occurred at 4:48 a.m. EDT (0848 GMT), three hours and three minutes after launch, setting a new record for the time it has taken a spacecraft to reach the space station.
Gee, that's quick.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-14-2020 09:09 AM
From Expedition 63 flight engineer Ivan Vagner (via Twitter):
'Favor' crew, congratulations on the successful launch!
The flight seen from space looks even cooler than from the Earth! Getting ready to welcome Soyuz MS-17 in just 2.5 hours!
MSS Member
Posts: 888 From: Europe Registered: May 2003
posted 10-14-2020 06:39 PM
According to this photo from MCC-M: scheduled duration is 177 days until April 9, 2021.
Soyuz MS-17 relocation is scheduled on March 10, 2021.
RichieB16 Member
Posts: 626 From: Oregon Registered: Feb 2003
posted 11-18-2020 10:08 PM
As I understand it, in the spring the plan is to relocate Soyuz MS-17 from Rassvet to Poisk to free the Rassvet port for the incoming Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft.
Why is this relocation needed? Why not just have Soyuz MS-18 dock with Poisk like many vehicles have in the past?
RichieB16 Member
Posts: 626 From: Oregon Registered: Feb 2003
posted 11-19-2020 08:42 AM
Could it have to do with the Poisk module becoming the source for EVAs from the Russian segment and therefore they don't want a crew vehicle docked to it long term, as using that module for EVAs would create crew isolation issues, meaning crewmembers would have to sealed inside the Soyuz during EVAs?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-22-2021 09:02 AM
That seems to be correct, based on an Instagram post today by Sergey Kud-Sverchkov:
Perhaps many will ask the question: 'What is the purpose of redocking?' First, we will need to conduct a spacewalk to complete preparations for the Pirs module undocking and subsequent docking of the Nauka module in its place. Yes, it arrives very soon, although I would very much like to meet and greet it!
For spacewalking, the Poisk module is to be used as an airlock. The most rational (in terms of the crew actions) and safe (in terms of dealing with possible emergencies during reverse airlocking) is to spacewalk when the Zvezda module Transfer Chamber is used as a backup airlock, while the crew's spacecraft is just docked to Rassvet.
This will be the 19th re-docking of the Soyuz spacecraft performed on the ISS, and the 45th in total for Soyuz since 1978.
It will be 48th Soyuz relocation in total since September 7th, 1978.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 46239 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-19-2021 10:57 AM
NASA live video
Watch three residents of the International Space Station fly their spacecraft to a new port on the station, making room for the future arrival of the next set of crew members.