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Russian Soyuz spacecraft with 3 astronauts docks at the International Space Station
March 25, 2024 By The Associated Press
In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, the Soyuz 2.1a rocket with Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus to the International Space Station, ISS, lifts off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan, Saturday, March 23, 2024. The crew's launch was initially scheduled for Thursday, but it was aborted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. Officials said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source. (Natalya Berezhnaya, Roscosmos space corporation via AP) MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian spacecraft with three astronauts successfully docked Monday at the International Space Station.
The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus reached the space outpost after Saturday’s blastoff from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan that followed an aborted launch attempt two days earlier.
Thursday’s attempted launch was halted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. Roscosmos and NASA said the crew wasn’t in danger during the aborted launch.
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Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, from left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya wave as they depart the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Saturday, March 23, 2024, to suit up for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station. Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has aborted the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station about 20 seconds before they were scheduled to lift off. Russia’s Roscosmos space corporation said the next launch attempt is set for Saturday. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
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Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson has her Russian Sokol suit pressure checked as she and crew mates Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya prepare for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Russia’s Roscosmos space agency aborted the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station about 20 seconds before they were scheduled to lift off Thursday. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
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Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya, top, Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, middle, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft for launch, Saturday, March 23, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source.
The three astronauts join the station’s crew consisting of NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Russians Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin.
Dyson is on her third trip to the orbital complex, where she is set to spend six months before returning to Earth in September with Kononenko and Chub, who will complete a year-long mission on the space lab.
Novitsky, who is making his fourth flight to the orbiting outpost, and Vasilevskaya, on her first space mission as her country’s first astronaut, will spend 12 days on the station and will return to Earth along with O’Hara.
The space station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the West amid tensions over Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. NASA and its partners hope to continue operating the orbiting outpost until 2030.
