MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. An inter-agency commission approved the basic and backup crews of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft for the upcoming launch to the International Space Station (ISS) and their preparations for the spaceflight at the Baikonur spaceport, Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center reported on Friday.
"The commission concluded that the crews of Expedition 70/71 to the International Space Station were prepared for their spaceflight aboard the manned Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft and their work in the ISS Russian segment. The cosmonauts and astronauts were recommended for commencing their preparations at the Baikonur spaceport," the Gagarin Center said.
The launch of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft intended to deliver the ISS Expedition 70 crew to the space station with TASS new special reporter in space Oleg Kononenko is scheduled for September 15 this year. The mission’s crew will comprise Roscosmos cosmonauts Kononenko and Nikolay Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara.
NASA astronaut O’Hara will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spaceship in the spring of 2024 while the space mission of Kononenko and Chub will last until September next year. Upon their mission completion, the Russian cosmonauts will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. Kononenko may become the Earth’s first human to spend over 1,000 days in space as part of a year-long expedition.
Roscosmos announced on July 15, 2022 that it had signed a deal with NASA on seat swap flights by Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts to the orbital outpost. Under the deal, Russian cosmonauts will perform three spaceflights to the ISS aboard US spaceships. Roscosmos announced in March this year that the seat swap flight program had been expanded by one more mission.
Quelle: TASS
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Update: 1.09.2023
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ISS Expedition 70/71 crews arrive at Baikonur Cosmodrome to prepare for spaceflight
The basic crew of the 70th and 71st space expeditions to the orbital outpost comprises Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolay Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara
The basic and backup crews of the 70th and 71st expeditions to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to prepare for spaceflight, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos announced on Tuesday.
"The basic and backup crews of the ISS Expedition 70/71 landed at Krainiy Airport in the town of Baikonur. They were received by the heads of the Yuzhny space center, a branch of the Roscosmos Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities and the administrations of the town of Baikonur and space industry enterprises," Roscosmos said in a statement.
In the coming two weeks, the crews will undergo a set of training sessions, exercises and instructions and some medical check-ups, it said.
The basic crew of the 70th and 71st space expeditions to the orbital outpost comprises Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolay Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. Their backup teammates are Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and Tracy Dyson.
The launch of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to deliver the ISS Expedition 70/71 crew to the space station is scheduled for September 15 this year.
NASA astronaut O’Hara will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spaceship in the spring of 2024 while the space mission of Kononenko and Chub will last until September next year. Upon their mission completion, the Russian cosmonauts will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. Kononenko may become the Earth’s first human to spend over 1,000 days in space as part of his year-long expedition.
Roscosmos announced on July 15, 2022 that it had signed a deal with NASA on seat swap flights by Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts to the orbital outpost. Under the deal, Russian cosmonauts will perform three spaceflights to the ISS aboard US spaceships. Roscosmos announced in March this year that the seat swap flight program had been expanded by one more mission.
Quelle: TASS
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Update: 14.09.2023
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NASA Sets Coverage for Launch, Docking of New Space Station Crew
A NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts are set to launch to the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 15. The U.S. space agency will provide full coverage of launch and crew’s arrival at the microgravity laboratory.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are scheduled to lift off on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:44 a.m. EDT (8:44 p.m. Baikonur time).
Coverage will begin at 10:45 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Watch online at:
O’Hara, who will begin a six-month mission aboard the station, and Kononenko and Chub, who will both spend a year on the orbital outpost, will fly on a quick two-orbit, three-hour trajectory that will result in a docking to the station’s Rassvet module at 2:56 p.m. A short time later, hatches between the station and the Soyuz will open and the crew will be welcomed aboard.
The trio will join the space station’s Expedition 69 crew of NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Konstantin Borisov, and Sergey Prokopyev, as well ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
This will be the first spaceflight for O’Hara and Chub, and the fifth flight for Kononenko.
Mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
10:45 a.m. – Launch coverage begins
2 p.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins
4:45 p.m. – Hatch opening and welcome remarks coverage begins
Quelle: NASA