ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-19 Mission patch.
October 5, 2021
Image above: The Soyuz MS-19 rocket with three Russian crewmates aboard ascends into space shortly after launching under clear blues skies in Kazakhstan. Image ROSCOSMOS.
Nearly nine minutes after a successful launch at 4:55 a.m. EDT of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and producer Klim Shipenko safely reached orbit. They have begun a two-orbit, three-hour flight to reach the International Space Station and join the Expedition 65 crew. At the time of launch, the station was flying about 260 miles over southwest Kazakhstan.
Image above: The Soyuz MS-19 crew with (from left) Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, producer Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild. Image Credit: ROSCOSMOS.
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and producer Klim Shipenko docked to the International Space Station at 8:22 a.m. EDT while both spacecraft were flying about 260 miles above Earth to the north of the Philippine islands.
Soyuz MS-19 launch (On-board camera view)
When the hatches between the two spacecraft are opened following standard pressurization and leak checks, the trio will join Expedition 65 Commander Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov.
Image above: Five spaceships are parked at the space station including Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter; the SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle; and Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 and MS-19 crew ships and ISS Progress 78 resupply ship. Image Credit: NASA.
Image Above: The Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft arrival to International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: ROSCOSMOS.
The hatches between the International Space Station and the newly arrived Soyuz spacecraft officially opened at 11 a.m. EDT. The arrival of three new crew members to the existing seven people already aboard for Expedition 65 temporarily increases the station’s population to 10.
Soyuz MS-19 manual docking
This is the fourth flight into space for Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. Actress Yulia Peresild and producer Klim Shipenko are making their first flights into space and will spend 12 days on the space station, filming segments for a movie titled “Challenge” under a commercial agreement between Roscosmos and Moscow-based media entities.
Image above: The three new residents aboard the station (front row, from left) are Russian actress Yulia Peresild, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, and Russian Producer Klim Shipenko. In the back, are Expedition 65 crew members Shane Kimbrough, Oleg Novitskiy, Thomas Pesquet, Megan McArthur, Pyotr Dubrov, Mark Vande Hei, and Akihiko Hoshide. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Peresild and Shipenko will return to Earth with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy Oct. 16 (Oct. 17 Kazakhstan time) on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, which is currently docked at the space station, for a parachute-assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe. Shkaplerov will remain aboard the station through next March, returning with NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, and Roscosmos cosmonaut and Pyotr Dubrov on the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft. The return of Vande Hei and Dubrov will mark the end of a 355-day mission. Vande Hei will have completed the longest single spaceflight by an astronaut in U.S. history.
Soyuz MS-19 hatch opening
Expedition 65 Commander Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, and Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have been aboard since arriving April 23, 2021, on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour. Endeavor and its crew are currently planned to return early-to-mid November.
Related links:
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/NASA TV/SciNews.
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