March 28, 2024

Soyuz MS-22 Spacecraft Docks to Space Station – New Crew Begins Six-Month Mission

The Soyuz MS-22 team ship approaches the spaceport station above the Mediterranean Sea with 3 brand-new crew members for a docking to the Rassvet module. Credit: NASA
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS) at 1:06 p.m. EDT (10:06 a.m. PDT) on Wednesday, September 21.
The hatches in between the International Space Station and the newly arrived Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft formally opened at 3:34 p.m. EDT. With the arrival of 3 new team members in addition to the existing seven people already aboard for Expedition 67, the stations population briefly increases to 10.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitriy Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio launched on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft atop a Soyuz 2.1 a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 21, 2022. Following a two-orbit rendezvous, the trio docked to the Rassvet module of the International Space Station where they will finish a six-month stay aboard the orbital station. Credit: NASA

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin signed up with Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev, cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov of Roscosmos, along with NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will invest six months aboard the orbital laboratory.
International Space Station Configuration as of September 21, 2022. 5 spaceships are docked at the space station consisting of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom and Russias Soyuz MS-21 and MS-22 team ships and the Progress 80 and 81 resupply ships. Credit: NASA
On September 29, the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft, which is currently docked at the area station, is set up to undock from the orbiting laboratory and carry Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov back to Earth. They will make a parachute-assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe.
Exploration 67 astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins of NASA and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) have actually been aboard given that getting here on April 27, 2022, on the SpaceX Dragon Freedom. Liberty and its crew are currently set up to go back to Earth in early-to-mid October.

Following a two-orbit rendezvous, the trio docked to the Rassvet module of the International Space Station where they will complete a six-month stay aboard the orbital outpost. International Space Station Configuration as of September 21, 2022. Five spaceships are docked at the space station consisting of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom and Russias Soyuz MS-21 and MS-22 crew ships and the Progress 80 and 81 resupply ships.