German, American, Russian Trio Launch to Space Station from Baikonur

The Soyuz MS-09 rocket is launched with Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   6 June 2018


CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – A German, American and Russian trio of astronauts and cosmonauts successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS) early this morning, June 6, propelled to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The new multinational trio comprising Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) blasted off in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft at 7:12 a.m. EDT Wednesday (5:12 p.m. Baikonur time) June 6.

The launch was broadcast live on NASA TV.

Liftoff took place from the same pad that Yuri Gagarin launch from on the first human spaceflight and at the time the launch pad rotated into the plane of the stations orbit.

The Soyuz MS-09 rocket is launched with Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Prokopyev, Auñón-Chancellor, and Gerst will spend the next six months living and working aboard the International Space Station.  Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA commentators noted that the launch was attended by US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman.  Germany’s ambassador to Russia was also present.

Also on hand was Sigmund Jaehn, 81, who became the first German to fly to space four decades ago in 1978. He represented what was then East Germany and served aboard the Soviet Salyut 6 space station.

They began a two-day trip to the station that will culminate with a rendezvous and docking to the space station’s Rassvet module on Friday, June 8 at 9:07 a.m. EDT

NASA plans live coverage of the docking beginning at 8:15 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Coverage of the opening of hatches between the spacecraft and station should start around 10:30 a.m.

The three-person crew comprising one American woman and two European men are embarking on a voyage for six month stay at the orbiting outpost that will restore the station to its full crew complement of six people. They will stay until December of this year

This is the second flight for Gerst who will also assume command of the station later this year. Prokopyev and Auñón-Chancellor are on their rookie spaceflights. 

Gerst first flew in 2014 on a 165 day long mission. Auñón-Chancellor was recently added to the crew as a replacement for Jeanette Epps for undisclosed reasons.

European Space Agency flight engineer Alexander Gerst, NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, and Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev boarded their Soyuz capsule a few hours before liftoff June 6, 2018. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

The new trio replace another trio that just safely returned to Earth on June 3 in another Soyuz capsule that made a soft landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

They will join Expedition 56 commander Drew Feustel and flight engineers Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos.

“The crew will spend more than five months conducting about 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development,” says NASA.

“This crew continues the long-term increase in crew size on the U.S. segment from three to four, allowing NASA to maximize time dedicated to research on the space station. Highlights of upcoming investigations include a new facility to study ultra-cold quantum gases, the first commercial European facility to conduct microgravity research, and a system that uses surface forces to accomplish liquid-liquid separation.”

They will also help unload the recently arrived Cygnus OA-9 cargo freighter carrying tons of research experiments, gear, food, water, spare parts and more vital to their stay on the station.

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Read our reports here about the Orbital ATK Antares/Cygnus resupply launch from NASA Wallops in Virginia in May.

The next SpaceX launch involves the Dragon CRS-15 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) – tentatively set for liftoff on no earlier than June 28 from Space Launch Complex-40 at the Cape.  

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com