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Russia launches three Russians to ISS on Soyuz-2 rocket

Russia today successfully launched three astronauts to ISS on its Soyuz-2 rocket, the first time the crew on a Russian launch to ISS was entirely Russian.

The docking at the station is expected three hours after launch.

The reason for the all-Russian crew has nothing to do with the Ukraine War. Initially NASA and Roscosmos were negotiating to have an American on this flight as part of a barter deal, whereby astronauts from the two space agencies fly on each other’s capsules in an even trade to gain experience with each. In October both agencies agreed to hold off the first barter flight until ’22. With the on-going sanctions however it is now unknown whether that barter deal will go forward.

The leaders in the 2022 launch race:

10 SpaceX
6 China
3 Russia
2 ULA

The U.S. still leads China 16 to 6 in the national rankings, with SpaceX having a scheduled Starlink launch this evening.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • Matt in AZ

    The cosmonauts entered the station wearing the Ukrainian colors of yellow and blue.

    https://youtu.be/Xalv7PYX-14

  • Cotour

    A direct afront and insult to Putin.

    What may be their punishment when they return to earth? (If they return?)

    Two very different realities.

  • Jeff Wright

    That was the official color of their university as per Parabolic Arc… that’s the fall back.
    In truth, this was a response to the ASAT test that threatened their comrades. Good on em’

  • john hare

    “””Jeff Wright
    March 19, 2022 at 8:28 pm
    That was the official color of their university as per Parabolic Arc… that’s the fall back.
    In truth, this was a response to the ASAT test that threatened their comrades. Good on em’””””

    The particular commenter making that claim on Parabolic Arc is not a reliable source. He’s not always wrong, but always has an agenda favoring statism that colors everything. If the colors were any form of political statement, then there was a lot of help on the ground pre-launch. A Soyuz is not exactly a changing room.

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