The Soyuz rocket launches the US-Russian crew at the International Space Station

A Russian cosmonaut and his NASA co-pilot, five months after making a spectacular launch last October, finally went into orbit on Thursday and, with a NASA astronaut making his first flight, docked the international space station six hours later. later strengthen the laboratory team to six.

The Soyuz MS-12 / 58S Space Shuttle departed from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 15: 14: 08. On Friday, around the time the Earth's rotation caused the launch pad – the one used by Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age – in the plane of the orbit of the station.

In an accelerated appointment procedure, Alexey Ovchinin, Soyuz MS-12 / 58S Captain-in-Command, left seated flight engineer Tyler "Nick" Hague Astronaut Christina Koch met the lab complex after a pursuit in orbit around four orbits for an automated docking at the Rassvet module facing the Earth at 9:01 pm.

The Soyuz MS-12 / 58S satellite on final approach of the international space satellite.

NASA

After waiting for the remaining motion to clear, the hooks and latches engaged to pull the ferry to a so-called "hard companion" with the berthing port. The hatches were to be opened approximately two hours later, after tests to check the seal and to balance the pressure between the two satellites.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and NASA flight technician Anne McClain were waiting for the arrival of the new crew. They were launched at the outpost on December 3 and have owned the station since December 19, when another Soyuz crew returned to Earth.

The Soyuz abandonment system automatically engaged, accelerating the crew capsule safely, away from the failed rocket. Ovchinin and The Hague landed approximately 250 miles from the launch site. The problem with Soyuz's normally reliable recall was quickly resolved, paving the way for Kononenko, Saint-Jacques and McClain December 3. But the downstream flights had to be reprogrammed.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft departs from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, taking off from a four-hour flight into orbit to the International Space Station.

NASA

The Soyuz MS-12 / 58S spacecraft launched on Thursday was initially scheduled to take off in April with commander Oleg Skripochka, a guest cosmonaut from the United Arab Emirates, and Koch, who was training as an on-board engineer or co-pilot. But as a result of the abortion, the flight was moved and Ovchinin and Hague were assigned to join Koch, while Hague assumed the role of co-pilot.

In a pre-launch interview, Koch, electrical engineer, mountaineer and veteran researcher in Antarctica, said that she was not hesitant to get into a Soyuz spacecraft and fly into the air. 39; space.

"It's an amazing machine," she said. "The fact that its reliability is so high is something to consider with a lot of esteem, and it was a great privilege to train on a spacecraft that has such a track record. This is a good spacecraft. "

The expanded six-member crew is facing unusually busy first weeks, and three spacewalks are scheduled for the end of the month to install new solar panel batteries and other upgrades and maintenance. Hague and McClain will conduct the first battery exchange tour on March 22nd. McClain and Koch should do the same seven days later. The Hague and Saint-Jacques will hold the third EVA on April 8th.

A shot from inside the Soyuz as it climbed to space, showing Commander Alexey Ovchinin, left, and Nick Hague, right, overseeing the cockpit controls. Christina Koch was on the right of Ovchinin.

NASA / Roscosmos

Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman to walk in space in 1984. Eleven Americans followed in her footsteps, starting with astronaut Kathryn Sullivan on a shuttle flight in October 1984. McClain and Koch would be the thirteenth and fourteenth to float outside of a spaceship the first female all-out team in space.

NASA originally planned to install the new solar panel batteries during two spacewalks last fall, but the launch of the Japanese cargo ship HTV-7 carrying them into orbit was delayed and the EVA delayed until the scheduled arrival of The Hague last October. Following the abandonment of the launch, the battery installation was delayed again.

In addition to the spacewalks, the station crew will conduct a series of scientific research and routine maintenance and unload five unmanned cargo ships – two Russian Progress cargo ships, two SpaceX Dragon cargo ships and a Northrup cargo capsule. Grumman Cygnus.

Kononenko, Saint-Jacques and McClain are expected to return to Earth on June 25 to complete a 203-day mission. Ovchinin, The Hague and Koch will have the station between July 6 and the arrival of three new crew members: Commander Soyuz MS-13 / 59S, Alexander Skvortsov, NASA astronaut Drew Morgan and Italian Luca Parmitano, former astronaut of the European Space Agency.

Expedition 59 crew from the space station (from left to right): Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, Anne McClain, Soyuz commander MS-11 / 57S, Oleg Kononenko, Soyuz commander MS-12 / 58S, Alexey Ovchinin, Nick Hague and Christina Koch.

NASA

This flight was the last Russian outsourced mission to transport US astronauts during NASA's transition to SpaceX and Boeing's commercial crewed ships. On March 2, SpaceX launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft on an unmanned test flight and could be ready to launch the first astronauts in the middle of the summer.

Hague and Koch trained for Crew Dragon and Starliner stops. The milestones marked by The Hague are "a big deal" for NASA, allowing the US space agency to end its sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz for its round trip transport.

But NASA covers its bets. The agency is buying two additional Soyuz seats, one for fall this fall and the other next spring, for US astronauts to reach the station if the commercial crew program experiences significant delays. .

Be that as it may, Ovchinin, Hague and Koch must return to Earth on October 3 to complete a 204-day mission.