For the very first time, a spacecraft has actually taken off with a flight attendant aboard, however there will be no beverage service throughout the flight.
Marina Vasilevskaya, who likewise worked as a flight trainer for Belavia Airlines in her home nation of Belarus, traded her attendant uniform for a Russian Sokol pressure match to end up being the very first Belarusian lady to fly into area. On Saturday (March 23), she introduced on Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft with cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on an objective to the International Space Station.
“It’s a huge honor for me and a huge duty to be in this incredible objective,” stated Vasilevskaya before heading to the launch pad. “This is our nationwide job. It’s such a huge honor. I’m so happy to represent our republic.”
The 3 crewmates left Pad 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan at 8:36 a.m. EDT (1236 GMT or 4:36 p.m. regional time) riding atop a Soyuz-2.1 a rocket. It was their 2nd shot at introducing to area after a low voltage caution from a piece of ground assistance devices stopped the countdown on Thursday.
9 minutes into the flight, a little figurine of “Sharik,” the black and white young puppy from the Soviet-era animation “A Kitten Named Woof,” started to drift while connected to a tether.
The toy, or “zero-g sign,” indicated that Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya had actually gotten in Earth orbit. The Soyuz was now on a trajectory to autonomously dock with the station after circling around the world 34 times. The 2 spacecraft are set up to connect together utilizing Russia’s Prichal node at 11:09 a.m. EDT (1509 GMT) Monday.
Related: International Space Station: Everything you require to understand about the orbital lab
Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, atop a Soyuz 2.1 a rocket, takes off for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
When aboard the station, Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya will be invited by Expedition 70 leader Oleg Kononenko and cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps. Dyson will sign up with the resident team, acting as a flight engineer, over the next 6 months.
The Soyuz MS-25 “zero-g sign” is a little figurine of “Sharik,” a young puppy from the Soviet animation “A Kitten Named Woof.” (Image credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center)
Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya will be aboard the station for about 12 days, after which they will go back to Earth with O’Hara on Soyuz MS-24. The 3 will leave the orbiting lab for a landing on the steppe of Kazakstan on April 6.
To make it possible for Vasilevskaya’s quick see as a spaceflight individual, Kononenko and Chub will stay on the station for another 6 months. After a yearlong stay, they will get back with Dyson on Soyuz MS-25 in September.
Soyuz MS-25 crewmates Oleg Novitsky, ยป …
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