Space Station Crew Docks in Record Time

It’s common for a period of time to pass between the launch of astronauts heading for the International Space Station and their actual connection to the orbiting laboratory. This is due to the differing orbital paths of the launch vehicle and the ISS, as well as the location from which the spacecraft begins its journey. However, the Expedition 64 crew experienced a remarkably swift arrival, docking with the station approximately three hours after departing from Earth via the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz spacecraft, transporting NASA astronaut Kate Rubins alongside Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, lifted off shortly before 2:00 AM EDT. It successfully docked with the ISS at 4:48 AM EDT – a duration of three hours and two minutes after launch. The connecting hatches between the spacecraft and the station were opened at 7:07 AM EDT, formally initiating the work period for the three newly arrived ISS crew members. Notably, this date also marks Kate Rubins’ birthday.

To illustrate how quickly this occurred, the Demo-2 mission, the previous crewed launch to the ISS, took a full day to reach the station after launching from Florida in May. Usually, the crew capsule needs several orbits to synchronize its speed and altitude with the station, but in this instance, the circumstances and timing allowed for the spacecraft to reach the appropriate position after only two rapid orbits of Earth.

The ISS is now occupied by a team of six crew members, including cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, and NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy, who were already aboard the station.