SPACEPORT BAIKONUR / Kazakhstan /, Oct. 14. / TASS /. A Russian Soyuz-2.1a spacecraft carrying a Soyuz MS-17-powered spacecraft exploded from the Baikonur spaceport on a very short flight to the International Space Station.
The two-orbit rendezvous with the station will take three hours and seven minutes.
The Soyuz-2.1aa carrier rocket was launched from Site No. 31 (Vostok launch pad) of the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 08:45 am in Moscow to deliver Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, as well as NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins to the orbital center.
In nearly nine minutes the spacecraft was orbited. The spacecraft is expected to dock with the Rassvet model at 11:52 am in Moscow on the same day.
The team will board a cosmonaut knitted soft toy, to be used as a zero gravity token. The toy, made by Sergei Kud-Sverchkov’s wife, was named Yura – a reference to the first man in space, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
In orbit
The team spends 177 days in space. During the new mission, Russian cosmonauts Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov will conduct 55 scientific studies and experiments, including four new probes. Three scientific experiments will be carried out without the participation of the team.
The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft crew will provide additional equipment to detect air leaks aboard the ISS, which continues from September 2019. To that end, Russian cosmonauts will provide additional equipment to detect the leak more more precise and precise. They also bring on board an extra updated sealant to plug it in.
Roscosmos told TASS that cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, who are currently working aboard the ISS, have concluded that the source of the leak is located at the Russian Zvezda model. The life and health of the crew is out of danger.
During their mission, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov are to make two spacecraft, scheduled for November 2020 and February 2021. Both spacecraft will be needed for the removal of the Pirs model and released next year. This is needed to leave room for the new Russian Nauka (Science) model to be launched in April 2021.