NASA Astronaut and Fellow Crew Members Prepare for Soyuz Rocket Launch
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 37/38 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins conducted their final fit check “dress rehearsal” in their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft and conducted other ceremonial activities Sept. 20. The Soyuz spacecraft was mated to its booster rocket on Sept. 22, and moved to the launch pad on a railcar Sept. 23 for final preparations before launch to the International Space Station on Sept. 26, Kazakh time. The trio will spend five and a half months onboard ISS, joining station Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA and Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. The footage also includes interviews at the launch pad Sept. 23 with Joel Montalbano, Deputy ISS Program Manager, and Ellen Ochoa, Director of the Johnson Space Center.
That is what all countries should be doing.
I do 🙂
Will it be short route flight, 4 hours ?
why?
We should all be supplying eachother. Atlas is a good example. Russia supples the engines (in that case the RD-180) because let's be honest they make better rocket engines, and the US should build the rocket it'self, because let's be honest, the US make better rocket chasis. Russia should build the inertials and the US should build the active electronics.
Have a safe trip Michael! Some of your family was here with us today, along with the rest of the school and we got your message! I'll look for you and the crew in the stars when you pass by us!
Wel the Japanese node on the ISS is the cleanest and most advanced. The ISS has a policy Leave your country at the door. But i never mentioned the ISS i mentioned rocketry to strengthen ties between the two powers. It would be great if china helped aswell.
That's cool to hear about the ISS, leaving your country at the door so to speak. In space its a whole new level, a whole new ball game. Your commonality to your fellow people working with you is that you are Human, we are all from Earth =D
I'm not really comfortable with space launches into space by Russian launch pads and Russian spacecraft personally. They're not as sophisticated and reliable compared to US build Launch pads and Spacecraft. If anybody dared me to try to go up in a soyuz rocket, I'd say no and share what spacecraft i'd prefer to ride in personally.
ok
anyone else playing a game of "spot chris hadfields signature on the signed object"??
stupid question, but where is the hatch they enter the rocket at? i don't see it