A Russian Soyuz spacecraft, named MS-24, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) approximately three hours after its launch. The docking took place while the Soyuz craft and the ISS orbited at an altitude of 260 miles (418 kilometers) above eastern Kazakhstan.
NASA astronaut Laurel O'Hara and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub joined the current seven occupants aboard the ISS. The trio launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and arrived at the orbital location, 250 miles above Earth, in just three hours.
Upon Arrival
Upon docking and entering the space station through the hatch, the newcomers were warmly welcomed by the seven current residents. Shortly after, the official social media account of the ISS posted a photo of the full 10-person crew, with O'Hara appearing at the far right of the image.
Astronaut Laurel O'Hara, a Texas native, embarks on her maiden orbital mission. She will spend the next six months living and working aboard the ISS, while her Russian counterparts will remain on the station for a full year, as reported by Digitartlends.
This comes at a busy time for the ISS in terms of crew rotations. At the end of last month, the four Crew-7 astronauts from SpaceX were welcomed, bidding farewell to the four Crew-6 astronauts.
Just over a week from now, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin will return to Earth aboard another Soyuz spacecraft at the end of their stay. Rubio's mission will mark a new record for the longest time spent in orbit by a NASA astronaut at 371 days.
Rubio's mission was initially slated for just six months, but it was extended after his Soyuz spacecraft experienced a coolant leak at the end of last year during its docking with the space station.
Roscosmos deemed the compromised spacecraft a significant risk to the crewed mission, prompting them to reschedule Rubio's return flight while arranging an alternative capsule.
O'Hara and her Russian colleagues were originally scheduled to travel to the station six months prior, but the repercussions of the rescheduling led to a delay in their mission.
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