ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-20 Mission patch.
Dec. 8, 2021
Image above: The Soyuz MS-20 crew ship blasts off on time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan toward the space station. Image Credit: Roscosmos.
Soyuz MS-20 launch (On-board camera view)
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano are safely in orbit on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft after launching at 2:38 a.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (12:38 p.m. Baikonur time).
Image above: At center, Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yozo Hirano (left) and Yusaku Maezawa (right) pose for crew portrait. Image Credit: Roscosmos.
After a four-orbit, six-hour journey, the Soyuz will dock to the station’s Poisk module at 8:41 a.m. About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the crew members will greet each other.
Soyuz Crew Ship Docks to Station with Three Visitors
Image above: The Soyuz MS-20 crew ship with three visitors approaches the space station moments before docking to the Poisk module. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station at 8:40 a.m. EST while the station was traveling 260 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. Coverage of hatch opening and welcome remarks will air at 10:15 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Soyuz MS-20 docking
Once on station, the trio will join Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov and cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, as well as NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, for approximately 12 days on the orbital laboratory.
On Sunday, Dec. 19, Misurkin, Maezawa, and Hirano will complete their mission, undocking the Soyuz from the Poisk module before heading for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:18 p.m. EST (9:18 a.m. Monday, Dec. 20, Kazakhstan time).
NASA TV coverage times for the Soyuz MS-20 return are as follows (all times Eastern):
Sunday, Dec. 19
3 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for hatch closing at 3:32 p.m.
6:30 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for undocking at 6:54 p.m.
9 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for deorbit and landing. Landing is targeted for 10:18 p.m.
This mission is Misurkin’s third flight into space and the first flight for Maezawa and Mirano, who are making their trek into space under a contract between Space Adventures and Roscosmos.
Related links:
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
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.
Greetings, Orbiter.ch
