A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), bringing back a three-man crew that had been stranded in orbit since October.
The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, carrying Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, arrived at the ISS on Monday, February 26th.
The three astronauts had been stranded in space since October when their previous spacecraft, the Soyuz MS-16, was forced to make an emergency landing due to a technical malfunction.
The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on February 15th, was the first manned mission to the ISS since the October incident.
The spacecraft docked with the ISS at 10:20 GMT and the crew was welcomed aboard by the station’s current occupants, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov and American astronauts Kathleen Rubins and Michael Hopkins.
The arrival of the Soyuz MS-17 marks a major milestone in the history of space exploration, as it is the first time a spacecraft has been able to dock with the ISS after experiencing a technical malfunction.
The crew of the Soyuz MS-17 will spend six months on the ISS, conducting experiments and performing maintenance tasks.
The successful docking of the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, February 26th, marks a major milestone in the history of space exploration. After being stranded in orbit since October due to a technical malfunction, the three-man crew of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hei were welcomed aboard the ISS by the station’s current occupants. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on February 15th, is the first manned mission to the ISS since the October incident. During their six-month stay on the ISS, the crew of the Soyuz MS-17 will conduct experiments and perform maintenance tasks, furthering our understanding of space exploration and pushing the boundaries of human achievement.