Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner toward the International Space Station (ISS) on Sept. 11, 2024. The mission, Soyuz MS-26, lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 p.m. EDT.
NASA’s launch commentator, Anna Schneider, confirmed that the rocket’s flight was flawless, with all stages operating as expected. The crew reached their preliminary orbit after an eight-minute, 45-second ascent, setting the stage for their journey to the ISS.
The crew will join the Expedition 71 team for a six-month mission aboard the ISS. This marks Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, Ovchinin’s third, and Vagner’s second, all having flown to space previously on Soyuz missions.
With the launch, there are now 19 people in Earth orbit across four spacecraft. This includes astronauts aboard the ISS and participants in various space missions, setting a new record for the number of people in orbit simultaneously.
The Soyuz MS-26 capsule is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 3:33 p.m. EDT, with live coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The hatch between the spacecraft and the ISS will open at 5:50 p.m. EDT, with remarks from NASA following shortly after.
Pettit, a seasoned astronaut, previously flew on space shuttle Endeavour in 2002, ISS Expeditions 30 and 31, and shuttle mission STS-126. He has spent a total of 370 days in space, and this mission will add to his extensive experience.
Ovchinin and Vagner bring substantial experience from prior Soyuz missions. Ovchinin flew on Expeditions 47, 48, 59, and 60, including a Soyuz MS-10 launch that aborted in 2018. Vagner participated in Expeditions 62 and 63 in 2020.