Astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday left the Soyuz spacecraft from the Earth-facing port and moved it to another location to clear the space for another spacecraft, which is expected to arrived in April. According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov upgraded the Soyuz MS-17 vehicle from the Rassvet Mini-Research model to the Poisk model of the Russian division of the ISS to clear space for another Soyuz spacecraft planned to fly with three. crew members next month.
To reach Soyuz MS-18
Roscosmos, in a press release, said that the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft parted from the International Spacecraft at around 16:40 UTC. After moving to a safe speed, the vehicle began orbiting the space station for about 15 minutes before docking in front of a Poisk module. The space was cleared to reach the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, which is expected to reach the ISS in April with three crew members for Expedition 65. The spacecraft will carry two Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, and one NASA astronaut Vande Hei to the ISS on April 9.
The move opens the port of Rassvet for the arrival of April 9 of another Soyuz, named Soyuz MS-18, which will bring Mark Vande Hei from NASA and Oleg Novitsky at Roscosmos and Pyotr Dubrov to join the space station crew after launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, “American space agency NASA said in a statement Friday.
Meanwhile, the transferred Soyuz MS-17 will return to Earth next month. The spacecraft was used to transport three astronauts to the ISS last October for Expedition 64. Sergey Ryzhikov Roscosmos, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA’s Kate Rubins were taken to the ISS for a six-month science experiment. Their journey ends in April, after which they will use the same spaceship to return to Earth.