The Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship successfully docked with the International Space Station today, bringing with it two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut who will be starting a six-month stay in orbit. After leak checks were completed, the hatches were opened to allow the crew to enter the ISS.
Belarussian guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya was greeted by Russian mission control upon arrival, while astronaut Tracy Dyson was congratulated for safely returning to the ISS. The NASA mission control team also extended their congratulations to Novitskiy for safely returning to the station.
The crew swap out was necessary due to restrictions on Russian crew ships for longer flights. NASA is now preparing for the upcoming piloted flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in May as an alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The Starliner is planned to be used in future ISS crew rotation missions to provide redundancy.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will be tested with astronauts during the upcoming “crew flight test,” with both Crew Dragon and Starliner set to alternate for NASA crew launches to maintain a permanent U.S. presence aboard the ISS. This strategic plan ensures that there will always be reliable transportation to and from the space station for American astronauts.
