NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts set for Friday launch to space station

Engineers readied a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for launch Friday to carry a veteran cosmonaut commander, a rookie co-pilot and a NASA astronaut on a flight to the International Space Station.

NASA's Loral O'Hara, making her first space flight, veteran commander Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are scheduled for liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 p.m. local time) Friday.

The Soyuz 2.1a rocket and Soyuz MS-24/70S crew spacecraft on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, poised for launch Friday at 11:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 p.m. local time). NASA/Bill Ingalls

The launching was timed to set up a fast-track three-hour, 11-minute rendezvous with the space station and if all goes well, the Soyuz MS-24/70S ferry ship will dock at the Earth-facing port of the Russian Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m.

Kononenko, Chub and O'Hara are replacing another Soyuz crew — commander Sergey Prokopyev, co-pilot Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio — who were launched to the station last September. They plan to return to Earth on Sept. 27 to wrap up an extended 371-day mission, the longest single space flight yet by an American astronaut.

The trio originally expected to come home in March, but their flight was stretched out an additional six months after their Soyuz MS-22/68S spacecraft was disabled by a coolant leak last December. They'll now come back to Earth aboard a replacement Soyuz launched last February.

The Soyuz MS-24/70S crew during training (left to right): NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, commander Oleg Kononenko and co-pilot Nikolai Chub. Roscosmos

As it turns out, Kononenko and Chub plan to spend a full year aboard the station as well while O'Hara's tour of duty will last six months.

To get everyone up and down as required, the Russians plan to launch a so-called "taxi" flight next March when veteran commander Oleg Novitskiy, NASA's Tracy Dyson and Belarus researcher Marina Vasilevskaya deliver a fresh ferry ship to the station.

Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya and O'Hara then will return to Earth about 10 days later aboard the same Soyuz that carries O'Hara aloft on Friday. Kononenko, Chub and Dyson will remain in orbit until next September, coming home aboard the Soyuz MS-25/71S Soyuz that will be delivered by Novitskiy.

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.