Same Day Delivery: Expedition 35 Crew Arrives at ISS in Less Than Six Hours

The Soyuz TMA-08M crew has arrived at the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA-08M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:43 p.m. GMT
Credit: NASA

The trio, made up of cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, launched aboard their Soyuz spacecraft from the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, lifting into the Kazakhstan sky at 8:43 p.m GMT.

However, what makes this Soyuz mission to the ISS special is that is is the first time a crew launching to the station used the six-hour rendezvous flight profile, previously tested on the last two Progress resupply missions to the orbiting laboratory.

Launch, rendezvous and docking to the space station in all previous Soyuz flights took two days to do so if all went according to plan. Today, the new trio arrived at their home for the next six moths in less time than it takes to fly a plane from London to New York!

The trio docked to the station's Poisk module at 2:28 a.m. GMT over the Pacific Ocean, a little under six hours after launching from Baikonur.

All six Expedition 35 crew members aboard the ISS
Credit: NASA

The hatches between the Soyuz and the station's Poisk Module were opened at 4.35 a.m. GMT, when the crew was welcomed aboard by Station commander Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko, restoring the station to its full complement of six crew members.


Speaking in a NASA social media event recently, Expedition 32/33 Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of JAXA said "It's really cool... It's kind of interesting to see the transition from a two day rendezvous to just six hours". Hoshide who flew to the station after two days catching up in his Soyuz, marvels at the speed at which crews can now fly to the ISS- "You launch in the morning and then that afternoon you're already on the station".

Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy are scheduled to return to Earth in September.

Celebrating Patrick's Day from 250 Miles Above Earth

It's good to see our national holiday celebrated all over the world. Whether you are celebrating the occasion in Ireland like myself, wearing green in Beijing, dying your river green in Chicago- wherever! It's always nice to see the world going green for a day!

"Wearing the green - Happy St. Patrick's Day from the International Space Station!"

However, it now seems that Paddy's Day is now being celebrated both on and off this planet!

Every year we see things like the Empire State Building, The London Eye and the White House fountain going green for Ireland. The International Space Station is no different!

Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, and fellow astronaut Tom Marshburn have been taking to social media sites like Google+ and Twitter to share the view of our Emerald Isle from 250 miles above in Low-Earth Orbit.

Always nice to see home from space!!

Since their launch a in December, Hadfield and Marshburn have had their cameras pointed at Earth, tweeting photos of places like Mt Vesuvius, the Scottish Highlands, and now the lenses have focused in on us. One of the main reasons I was looking forward to our national holiday was because I knew the guys on the space station would more than likely snap a few photos of our island(something they had been doing in the days leading up to March 17th). Then the moment came when Hadfield tweeted:

"Maidin mhaith from the International Space Station! Happy Saint Patrick's Day to the Irish all around the globe. Good morning!"

This was followed by Hadfield showing the Irish within him as he broke out his green geansaí, complemented by a dickiebow. Then the photos came!

"Tralee, Ireland, nestled in the first green we see after soaring across the Atlantic"

First up from the station's windows was a glimpse of Tralee from the heavens above! His crew mate Marshburn of NASA, who had been snapping away at Ireland for the last few days also tweeted a snow covered Waterford.

To mark the occasion further, Hadfield, a man also noted for his music skills, recorded his version of Danny Boy- "Danny Boy strikes home with me, now more than ever. I've recorded a version for today in orbit. Hope you like it!" You can hear the commander's version of the song here: https://soundcloud.com/colchrishadfield/danny-boy.

"St. Patrick's Day Finale: Dublin, with her port standing out clearly to photographers in Earth orbit"

Hadfield finished up the day and decided to call it a day when he tweeted this picture of Dublin- the clouds must have gotten the better of him!


You can see all of Chris and Tom's photos of Ireland, and of course other photos of spaceship Earth by following them on Twitter: @Cmdr_Hadfield and @AstroMarshburn

Happy St Patrick's Day! All photos credit to Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn, NASA

Coming Home to Our Fragile Oasis: Trio Lands Safely

The Expedition 33/34 crew aboard the International Space Station have returned home to Earth after spending 144 days in space.

The crew made up of NASA Astronaut Kevin Ford, and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin were scheduled to return home on March 15th, but due to adverse weather conditions at the landing site in Kazakhstan, the return home was delayed, allowing the trio to spend an extra day in space.

The departing Soyuz as seen after undocking from the ISS

Finally, after 142 days aboard the ISS, it was time for Ford, Tarelkin and Novitskiy to return home. The trio bid farewell to their crew mates Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko(who will return to Earth in mid-May), and hatches between the departing Soyuz and the space station were closed at 9:38 p.m. GMT. 

A few hours later, the Soyuz TMA-06M crew undocked from the International Space Station. Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy was at the controls of the spacecraft as it undocked at 12:43 a.m. from the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2, while the station was flying over northeastern Mongolia. The undocking officially marked the beginning of Expedition 35.

From left: Tarelkin, Novitskiy and Ford give thumbs up a few hours after landing

Following a series of deorbit burns, the Soyuz made its way through the Earth's atmosphere, with the spacecraft landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan, northeast of the remote town of Arkalyk at an estimated time of 4:08 a.m. GMT. In freezing, foggy conditions, search and rescue and recovery forces arrived quickly, extracted the crew from the Soyuz, and sat them down as the trio were checked to see if they were alright,  as they adjusted to life back on Earth.

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko will remain aboard the orbiting complex as a three-person crew until the March 28 launch and docking of Expedition 35 Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin.

Hadfield Takes the Reigns as First Canadian Commander of Spaceship ISS

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield has assumed command of the International Space Station, relieving Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford of his position.

Hadfield, who has flown on two previous flights, including one stay aboard Russian space station Mir, was handed the keys to the orbiting laboratory- "Thank you very much for giving me the keys to the family car- we're gonna put some miles on it, but we'll bring it back in good shape".

Kevin Ford hands over command of the ISS to Chris Hadfield

The ceremony kicked off with Expedition 34 commander speaking about the remarkable work and record-breaking science that has been achieved during his time as commander. Then as a surprise to mark the special occasion of Hadfield becoming the first Canadian commander of the ISS, the Canadian national anthem was played, sparking a proud response from Hadfield- "Kevin thank you. You do me a tremendous honour by playing that song for me and my country".

However, Hadfield will officially take command of the ISS when Ford, Tarelkin and Novitskiy undock their Soyuz-TMA 06M space craft from the space station, marking the beginning of Expedition 35. Altogether, the departing trio will have spent 144 days in space since launching from Kazakhstan Oct. 23 2012.

Hadfield and his crewmates, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, will tend to the station for two weeks until the arrival of three new crew members: NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin.

Capturing a Dragon by the Tail on the ISS

The International Space Station has captured a dragon.

Dragon launches aboard its Falcon 9 rocket on Friday March 1 

Yes, I know. Sounds a bit strange right? But it's true. The Expedition 34 crew aboard the International Space Station have successfully grappled and docked the SpaceX Dragon capsule, carrying nearly 1300 pounds of cargo to support systems aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Dragon took off on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday, on only its second flight to resupply the station(excluding test flights) destined for docking this morning. Some of the cargo that will be unpacked by the astronauts include 17 different scientific experiments, that will be studied in the weightless environment aboard the station, as well as crew supplies like food and clothing.

Grapple and docking procedures were carried out using the station's robotic arm- Canadarm2, by NASA astronaut and Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford, and fellow NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn. Once grappled, Dragon was installed onto the Earth-facing port of the ISS by a team working in Mission Control in Houston. Dragon was then bolted into place through commands by Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency.

Catching a Dragon by the Tail

The station's Canadarm2 plucked  a dragon out of its 10 meter holding point, with official time of grappling occurring at 10.31am GMT. Dragon was then berthed to the space station's Harmony Module, with docking confirmed at 1:56pm GMT.

However, it is worth noting that the mission had to be delayed by one day due to a malfunction in the Dragon's solar arrays and thruster pods, shortly after launch on Friday, March 1st. This led to fears that SpaceX's Dragon mightn't be able to reach the 240 mile-high orbit of the ISS. Fortunately, these problems were eventually ironed out and teams on the ground gave the all-clear for a rendezvous with the station, followed by grapple and docking. The date for Dragon's unberthing, release and splashdown still remain planned for March 25.

Dragon docked to the station's Harmony Module 

This mission to resupply the ISS is SpaceX's second of 12 planned flights. It is hoped that if everything goes according to plan, astronauts will once again be able to launch from US soil into space, no longer having to rely on the Russians. The date for Dragon's first manned flight is expected to launch sometime in 2015.

In the mean time, while these private companies are flying back and forth from the ISS, NASA is now able to focus on going beyond low-earth orbit, and flying humans farther into space than ever before. The agency is currently developing systems, designs and hardware for its Space Launch System(SLS), and in particular, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, scheduled to make its first test flight in 2014.