The three-person crew that launched into space on a Soyuz rocket to work on the International Space Station has successfully arrived, docked and boarded.
NASA astronaut Johnny Kim, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, docked their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to the ISS at 4:57 a.m. ET and then opened the hatch at 7:28 a.m. ET Tuesday after a three-hour, 262-mile flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The trio will now join members of Expeditions 72 and 73 already aboard the ISS and will spend eight months there before returning to Earth in December.
Kim will be involved in research projects such as analyzing the flammability of materials in microgravity conditions and testing new space technologies.
It was Kim's first spaceflight, and NASA warmly welcomed him aboard the ISS, sending a message to X: “Welcome to the station, @JonnyKimUSA!”
“On the orbiting laboratory, Kim will conduct science research and demonstrate technologies that will help prepare crews for future space missions and benefit humanity on Earth,” NASA said in an August 2024 press release.
A U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, naval aviator and flight surgeon, Kim, who also served with the U.S. Navy SEALs, was selected as an astronaut in 2017.
Their arrival brings the space station's crew to 10 for at least the next 11 days. On April 19, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner are scheduled to leave the ISS and return to Earth.
“At NASA, we are known for our engineering excellence, pioneering research, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” Kim wrote in X on Monday. “But what truly sets us apart is our people. It’s not the rockets, planes, satellites, or science that define this agency, but the extraordinary individuals who make them happen — and always will be.”
Sourse: www.upi.com
