Soyuz astronaut launch spotted from International Space Station (photos)

September 22, 2022

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Astronauts aboard the Worldwide House Station (ISS) noticed their latest set of crewmates depart Earth right now (Sept. 21).

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin and NASA’s Frank Rubio to orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this morning. The spaceflight motion was noticed by ISS astronauts zooming about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

“We had a spectacular view of the #Soyuz launch! Sergey, Dmitry and Frank will come knocking on our door in simply a few hours … trying ahead to welcoming them to their new residence!” European House Company (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti said via Twitter today (opens in new tab), in a publish that included two images of the launch from on excessive.

In images: Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti takes Europe’s historic 1st female spacewalk

One other picture of the Soyuz astronaut launch taken from the Worldwide House Station on Sept. 21, 2022. (Picture credit score: Samantha Cristoforetti/ESA by way of Twitter)

Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio did certainly come knocking quickly; their Soyuz spacecraft docked with the ISS at 1:06 p.m. EDT (1706 GMT) right now, simply over three hours after launch.

Cristoforetti is a part of the ISS’ present Expedition 67, which is commanded by cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. The opposite crewmembers are cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov, NASA’s Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins — and now Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio.

Hines posted some images of right now’s Soyuz launch on Twitter as nicely. “Ever marvel what a [rocket] launch appears like from space? It’s superb!!” the astronaut wrote (opens in new tab).

NASA astronaut Bob Hines posted on Twitter this photo of the Soyuz rocket launch of Sept. 21, 2022. The photo was taken from the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Bob Hines posted on Twitter this picture of the Soyuz rocket launch of Sept. 21, 2022. The picture was taken from the Worldwide House Station. (Picture credit score: Bob Hines/NASA by way of Twitter)

Artemyev will cross command to Cristoforetti subsequent week earlier than he and his crewmates return to Earth, marking the start of Expedition 68. This will likely be an enormous second; no European girl has ever commanded an ISS mission earlier than.

The ISS will obtain one other recent set of crewmates just some weeks from now, if all goes in response to plan. NASA’s Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Company astronaut Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch to the orbiting lab on Oct. 3, on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission for NASA.

Shortly after Crew-5 arrives, Cristoforetti, Hines, Lindgren and Watkins will depart the ISS, heading for residence aboard their very own SpaceX Dragon capsule. Their arrival again on Earth will mark the top of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission.

Editor’s be aware: This story was up to date at 3:10 p.m. EDT on Sept. 21 to incorporate a tweeted picture and feedback posted by astronaut Bob Hines.

Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a e-book concerning the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).