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A Soyuz craft with 2 Russians and 1 American docks at the International Space Station
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American docked at the International Space Station on Wednesday, a little more than three hours after its launch.
The capsule atop a towering rocket set off from a Russian launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and docked with the space station after two orbits of the Earth, a fast trip compared with some that have lasted for days.
The crew already aboard the station were performing a lengthy series of system checks before those in the capsule can enter.
The mission commander is Alexei Ovchinin, with Russian compatriot Ivan Vagner and American Donald Pettit in the crew.
The launch took place without obvious problems and the Soyuz entered orbit eight minutes after liftoff, a relief for Russian space authorities after an automated safety system halted a launch in March because of a voltage drop in the power system.
On the space station, Pettit, Vagner and Ovchinin will join NASA's Tracy Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, and Russians Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin and Oleg Kononenko.
Wilmore and Williams have remained on the station long past their scheduled return to Earth. They arrived in June as the first crew of Boeing's new Starliner capsule. But their trip to the orbiting laboratory was marred by thruster troubles and helium leaks, and NASA decided it was too risky to return them on Starliner.
The two astronauts will ride home with SpaceX next year.
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In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, centre, and Ivan Vagner, crew members to the International Space Station, ISS, pose during a news conference on the eve of the launch in Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Credit: Ivan Timoshenko, Roscosmos space corporation, via AP -
In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Expedition 72 crew member to the International Space Station, ISS, attends a news conference on the eve of the launch in the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Credit: Ivan Timoshenko, Roscosmos space corporation, via AP -
In this image provided by NASA, Expedition 72 crew members: Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, top, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, center, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft for launch, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send the trio on a mission to the International Space Station. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP -
In this image provided by NASA, a Soyuz rocket carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP -
In this image provided by NASA, a Soyuz rocket carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP -
In this photo taken from video released by Roscosmos space corporation, the Soyuz-2.1 rocket booster with Soyuz MS-26 space ship carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off in the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Roscosmos space corporation, via AP -
In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, the Soyuz-2.1 rocket booster with Soyuz MS-26 space ship carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off in the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Ivan Timoshenko, Roscosmos space corporation, via AP -
In this image provided by NASA, a Soyuz rocket carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP -
In this image provided by NASA, a Soyuz rocket carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP -
In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, the Soyuz-2.1 rocket booster with Soyuz MS-26 space ship carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off in the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Credit: Ivan Timoshenko, Roscosmos space corporation, via AP
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