Space station gets 3 new residents after Russian launch
by MARCIA DUNN
The International Space Station welcomed three new residents Wednesday following a smooth Russian launch.
The Soyuz capsule rocketed into orbit from Kazakhstan and, just three hours later, pulled up at the space station. American Frank Rubio checked in for a six-month stay along with Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin.
Rubio, a doctor and former Army parachutist from Miami, rode up on the Soyuz under a new crew swap agreement between the two countries. The agreement was finalized in July despite tensions over Moscow's war in Ukraine, a sign of continuing Russia-U.S. cooperation in space.
Under this cash-free barter, Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly SpaceX to the space station from Florida in less than two weeks. NASA and the Russian Space Agency want to keep exchanging seats like this to ensure a constant U.S. and Russian presence at the space station.
NASA astronauts routinely launched on Russian Soyuz rockets—for tens of millions of dollars apiece—until SpaceX started flying station crews from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 2020. A Russian last launched from Florida 20 years ago.
SpaceX aims to launch Kikina along with one Japanese and two Americans as early as Oct. 3.
The new arrivals will replace astronauts living up there since early spring; the crew size eventually will settle back to seven.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti said the view of the launch from the space station was "spectacular." She tweeted stunning photos of the glowing limb of the Earth and the rocket's zigzagging white contrail.
Let us know if there is a problem with our content
Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page.
For general inquiries, please use our contact form.
For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines).
Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors
Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.
Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience
We keep our content available to everyone.
Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process
and policies.
Editors
have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
Phys.org™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics.
Phys.org is a part of Science X network.
With a global reach of over 10 million monthly readers and featuring dedicated websites for science (Phys.org),
technology (Tech Xplore) and medical research (Medical Xpress),
the Science X network is one of the largest online communities for science-minded people.