posted 03-18-2024 02:58 PM               

Soyuz MS-25 crew, rocket poised for launch

Soyuz MS-25 commander Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Tracy Dyson of NASA and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus are set to launch to the International Space Station on Thursday (March 21) at 9:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT or 6:21 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz is scheduled to dock to the station's Prichal node module at about 12:39 p.m. EDT (1739 GMT) the same day, after a two-orbit rendezvous.

About two hours after docking, the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station will open and Novitskiy, Dyson and Vasilevskaya will be greeted by Expedition 70 commander Oleg Kononenko and cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps.

Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya will be aboard the space station for 12 days, providing the ride home for O'Hara on Tuesday, April 2, aboard Soyuz MS-24 for a parachute-assisted landing on steppe of Kazakhstan. Dyson will spend six months aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, returning to Earth in September with Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Roscosmos, who will complete a year-long mission on the laboratory.

On Monday (March 18), the Soyuz-2.1a rocket topped with the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft was rolled out to Pad 31/6 by train and erected into position.

posted 03-21-2024 10:11 AM               

Soyuz MS-25 launch scrubbed

Thursday's (March 21) launch of the crewed Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft to the International Space Station was scrubbed.

The countdown was halted by ground support equipment due to low voltage reading in the Soyuz rocket's electrical system.

The next launch opportunity is on Saturday, pending the completion of a state commission review.

posted 03-22-2024 03:09 PM               

Soyuz MS-25 targets new launch date

The launch of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is now scheduled for 8:36 a.m. EDT (1236 GMT 4:36 p.m. local time) on Saturday, March 23.

Oleg Novitsky, Tracy Dyson and Marina Vasilevskaya will spend two days in orbit before docking to the International Space Station's Prichal node at 11:09 a.m. EDT (1509 GMT) on Monday, March 25.

posted 03-23-2024 07:53 AM               

Flight attendant becomes first Belarusian woman in space on ISS-bound Soyuz

For the first time, a spacecraft has lifted off with a flight attendant aboard, but there will be no drink service during the flight.

Marina Vasilevskaya, who also served as a flight instructor for Belavia Airlines in her home country of Belarus, traded her attendant uniform for a Russian Sokol pressure suit to become the first Belarusian woman to fly into space. On Saturday (March 23), she launched on Russia's Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft with cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on a mission to the International Space Station.

The three crewmates left Pad 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan at 8:36 a.m. EDT (1236 GMT or 4:36 p.m. local time) riding atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket.

posted 03-25-2024 10:04 AM               

Soyuz MS-25 docks at space station

Soyuz MS-25 arrived at the International Space Station on Monday (March 25), completing an autonomous docking to the Prichal node at 11:03 a.m. EDT (1503 GMT).

The two spacecraft made contact as they were traveling 260 miles over central Kazakhstan.

Following standard pressurization checks, the hatches between the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft and the space station will be opened.