Welcome aboard! Here are the highlights of the launch and two-day trip to the International Space Station. It culminated in the docking of Soyuz MS-03 to the station last evening.
Three new crew members are aboard the International Space Station. The hatches on the space station and Soyuz MS-03 opened at 7:40 p.m. EST, marking the arrival to the orbiting laboratory for NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency).
Along with Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, the arriving crew members will contribute to more than 250 research experiments ongoing aboard the space station, in diverse fields such as biology, Earth Science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) have docked to the International Space Station. After orbiting the Earth for approximately two days, their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft docked with the space station’s Rassvet module at 4:58 p.m. EST.
When hatches between the Soyuz and space station opened at 7:35 p.m., the three crew members joined Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who have been aboard the complex since October. NASA TV coverage for hatch opening will begin at 6:45 p.m.
Three new crew members docked to the International Space Station Saturday at 5:01 p.m. EST. Live coverage of the docking and arrival began at 4:15 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) launched in their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft at 3:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 (2:20 a.m. Baikonur time, Nov. 18).
To learn more about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/.
To follow activities on orbit, visit the space station Facebook page at:
Follow the crew members and the station on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa_astronauts
and
http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station
Follow the station on Instagram at:
Written By: Mark Garcia NASA
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