JSC2013-E-080233 (6 Sept. 2013) --- With the onion dome spires of St. Basil's Cathedral serving as a backdrop, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (front row, left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (front row, center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (front row, right) lead the way along the Kremlin Wall in Red Square in Moscow to lay flowers Sept. 6 in a traditional ceremony to honor Russian space icons who are interred there. Kotov, Hopkins and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA
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MOSCOW, The main and backup crews of the long-term Expedition 37/38 to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday are flying to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where they will be awaiting the launch of the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft, which is scheduled for September 26.
Press secretary of the Cosmonaut Training Centre (CTC) Irina Rogova told Itar-Tass that “the main crew is expected to fly out at 10:00 MSK, and the backup crew - at 10:30 MSK. Before the departure the cosmonauts will talk to reporters and have a traditional photo and video sessions in the Star City.”
Crews, as usually, will take off to Baikonur from the Chkalovsky airfield outside Moscow in two planes.
Cosmonauts of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazan, as well as NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins are have the final fitting of the Sokol spacesuits at Baikonur. They will also conduct a visual inspection of the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft, after which the crew will make their remarks and suggestions, which will be taken into account by experts during the final “fine-tuning” of the ship before the start.
The backups - Alexander Skvortsov, Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson will conduct the final operations ahead of the launch along with the main crew. They will be on standby until the blastoff - when the main crew take their seats in the spaceship on the launch pad.
The Soyuz spacecraft is to fly to the ISS on a short-cut journey, which will last less than six hours.
Quelle: Itar-Tass
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Update: 15.09.2013
The orbit of the International Space Station(ISS) will be raised on Sunday by nearly one kilometer to ensure safe docking of a Russian spacecraft with new crew members, a spokesman for the Russian space agency said.
Russia’s mission control center will adjust the ISS orbit by switching on thrusters of Europe’s Europe’s ATV-4 “Albert Einstein” resupply spacecraft currently docked with the station.
"Thrusters of the European spacecraft will be started at 16:42 Moscow time [12:42 GMT] on Sunday and will remain switched on for 204.22 seconds, giving the station a boost of 0.5 meters per second. As a result, the average altitude of the ISS will be increased by approximately 900 meters (29.5 feet), to 418.8 kilometers (260 miles),” the spokesman said.
Such adjustments are carried out regularly to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to facilitate the successful docking and undocking of spacecraft.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky and NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins will fly to the station aboard a Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft at 00:58 Moscow time on September 26 (GMT 20:58, September 25).
They will join the current ISS crew, comprising Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, and astronauts Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.
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Die erste Trainingseinheit der Haupt-Besatzung bemanntes Raumschiff "Sojus TMA-10M". Überprüfen Anzüge für Leckagen. Baikonur. 14. September 2013
Crew-37 haben die Flaggen der Vertragsstaaten der Mission 37/38-y Langzeitmission auf der ISS aufgezogen. Baikonur. 15.09.2013
Quelle: RIANOVOSTI
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Update: 20.09.2013
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Soyuz TMA-10M Encapsulation
JSC2013-E-088066 (19 Sept. 2013) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft is prepared for encapsulation into the third stage of a Soyuz booster rocket Sept. 19. The Soyuz spacecraft will move to its launch pad Sept. 23 for final preparations for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, to carry Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both with Russia's Federal Space Agency, into orbit for the start of a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Soyuz TMA-10M Encapsulation
JSC2013-E-088067 (19 Sept. 2013) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft hovers behind the third stage of a Soyuz rocket Sept. 19 prior to its encapsulation into the booster. Standing in the midst of other Soyuz rocket components being prepared for future flights, the Soyuz spacecraft will be moved to its launch pad Sept. 23 for final preparations for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, to carry Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both with Russia's Federal Space Agency, into orbit for the start of a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Soyuz TMA-10M Encapsulation
JSC2013-E-088068 (19 Sept. 2013) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft is lowered into position for its encapsulation in the third stage of a Soyuz rocket Sept. 19. The Soyuz spacecraft will move to its launch pad Sept. 23 for final preparations for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, to carry Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both with Russia's Federal Space Agency, into orbit for the start of a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Soyuz TMA-10M Encapsulation
JSC2013-E-088070 (19 Sept. 2013) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft is installed in the third stage of a Soyuz rocket Sept. 19. The Soyuz spacecraft will be moved to its launch pad Sept. 23 for final preparations for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, to carry Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both with Russia's Federal Space Agency, into orbit for the start of a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Soyuz TMA-10M Encapsulation
JSC2013-E-088071 (19 Sept. 2013) --- With the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft nestled inside, the third stage of a Soyuz booster rocket stands erect in the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sept. 19. The "encapsulation" process set the stage for the third stage of the Soyuz booster to be mated with two other rocket stages Sept. 22 in advance of the rocket’s rollout to the launch pad in Baikonur Sept. 23. Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both with Russia's Federal Space Agency, are scheduled to launch on the Soyuz Sept. 26, Kazakh time, for the start of a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy practice rendezvous and docking techniques on a simulator at their Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Image Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Update: 23.09.2013
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New Station Trio Preps for Launch
JSC2013-E-088569 (20 Sept. 2013) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right) pose for pictures in front of their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft Sept. 20 as they completed a final "fit check" dress rehearsal of procedures leading to their launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, from Baikonur to begin a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
Expedition 37/38 Prime and Backup Crew Members
JSC2013-E-088572 (20 Sept. 2013) --- The prime and backup Expedition 37/38 crew members pose for pictures in front of the first stage engines of the Soyuz booster rocket in the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sept. 20. From left to right are backup Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev, prime Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, prime Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, prime Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, backup Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and backup Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA. Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy completed a final "fit check" inspection of their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft, preparing for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, to begin a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Expedition 37/38 Prime and Backup Crew Members
JSC2013-E-088574 (20 Sept. 2013) --- Touring the Korolev Museum at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 37/38 prime and backup crew members pose for pictures by an old Russian launch and entry suit Sept. 20. From left to right are prime Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, prime Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, prime Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy and backup crew members Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov and Steve Swanson of NASA. Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft to begin a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
Quelle:NASA
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Russia's Soyuz Rocket on Launch Pad for ISS Mission
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BAIKONUR, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – The Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad on Monday ahead of the planned manned mission to the International Space Station.
A spokesman for Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said the rollout took place in normal regime.
The rocket is to blast off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan early on September 26 to take new ISS crew members to the orbital station.
The main crew comprises Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky and NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, while the backup crew are Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Russia and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson.
The names of the three new crew members will be officially announced on Tuesday.
The current ISS crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, and astronauts Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.
Quelle: RIANOVOSTI
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Update: 24.09.2013
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BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), September 23 (Itar-Tass) - The Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz TMA-10M manned spacecraft taken out of the operations and checkout facility and installed on the Gagarin launch pad of the Baikonur cosmodrome, an official of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Rosсosmos) said. “The roll-out of the rocket and its lacing on the launch pad passed in a normal mode,” he added.
The new space expedition will be launched on the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) early morning September 26.
The main ISS crew consists of Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, as well as NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins. Their backups are Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson.
On Tuesday, September 24, the state commission, chaired by first deputy head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Oleg Frolov, will finally approve the membership of the crew that will fly to the ISS on Thursday.
Quelle: ITARTASS
Update: 22.55 MESZ
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NASA Television will provide extensive coverage live from Kazakhstan of the Sept. 25 launch of three crew members of Expedition 37-38, as they begin their journey to the International Space Station.
Michael Hopkins of NASA and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will depart from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:58 p.m. EDT (2:58 a.m. Kazakh time Sept. 26) aboard a Soyuz spacecraft headed for the space station. NASA Television coverage will begin at 4 p.m. and will include video of pre-launch activities leading up to spacecraft boarding.
Hopkins and Ryazanskiy are flight engineers, and Kotov commands the Soyuz spacecraft, which will rendezvous with the space station and dock after four orbits of Earth. Docking to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the station will take place at 10:47 p.m. NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 10 p.m.
At about 12:25 a.m. Sept. 26, hatches between the Soyuz and the space station will open. Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, as well as Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will greet Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy. Hatch-opening coverage begins on NASA TV at midnight.
Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy will remain aboard the station until mid-March. Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano, who have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since late May, will return to Earth Nov. 11, leaving Kotov as commander of Expedition 38.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 25.09.2013
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Russia Approves New Crew for International Space Station
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BAIKONUR, September 24 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian state commission on Tuesday approved the makeup of the main and backup crews of a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), to blast off on Thursday.
The main crew comprises Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky and NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, while the backup crew is Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Russia and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson.
“The chief medical commission ruled that both the main and the backup crew members are fit for performing a space flight,” said Sergei Krikalyov, head of Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
Kotov is the most experienced of the three main crew members. He has flown two long-duration spaceflights aboard the ISS, logging just short of a year in space.
Ryazansky and Hopkins have no previous spaceflight experience.
The Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Monday.
The launch is set for shortly before 1 a.m. Moscow time on September 26 (20:58 GMT, September 25) with ISS docking to occur some six hours later.
This will be the third consecutive manned flight to the ISS under the “short” six-hour flight program. Before March this year, all manned Soyuz missions were carried out under a two-day scheme.
The current ISS crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and astronauts Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.
Quelle:RIANOVOSTI
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Update: 19.30 MESZ
Here is an abbreviated launch-to-docking timeline for the Soyuz TMA-10M mission (in EDT and mission elapsed time; best viewed with fixed-width font):
EDT...........DD...HH...MM...SS...EVENT
09/25/13
04:58:50 PM...00...00...00...00...LAUNCH
05:07:35 PM...00...00...08...45...Third stage shutdown/orbit insertion
05:07:38 PM...00...00...08...48...Soyuz separation from third stage
05:07:46 PM...00...00...08...56...Solar array/antenna deploy
05:43:28 PM...00...00...44...38...First in a series of rendezvous rocket firings
08:39:41 PM...00...03...40...51...Automated rendezvous start
08:53:00 PM...00...03...54...10...US-to-Russian attitude control handover
08:58:00 PM...00...03...59...10...ISS maneuvers to docking attitude
09:11:20 PM...00...04...12...30...Range: 200 km/124 mi; Soyuz VHF-2 voice link
09:11:41 PM...00...04...12...51...Soyuz KURS-A rendezvous system activation
09:13:41 PM...00...04...14...51...Station KURS-P activation
09:37:41 PM...00...04...38...51...Range: 80 km/50 mi
09:41:08 PM...00...04...42...18...Sunrise
09:58:41 PM...00...04...59...51...Range: 15 km/9.3 mi
10:06:01 PM...00...05...07...11...Range: 8 km/5 mi; Soyuz TV activation
10:24:24 PM...00...05...25...34...Flyaround mode start
10:34:24 PM...00...05...35...34...Stationkeeping start
10:37:00 PM...00...05...38...10...Final approach start
10:39:55 PM...00...05...41...05...Sunset
10:48:11 PM...00...05...49...21...DOCKING
11:02:00 PM...00...06...03...10...Soyuz and Poisk docking hardware engages
11:45:00 PM...00...06...46...10...Russian-to-US attitude control handover
Soyuz TMA-10M on the Launch Pad
201309250003hq (25 Sept. 2013) --- The Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft is seen on its launch pad hours before its launch to the International Space Station, Sept. 25, 2013, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Sept. 26, Kazakh time, and will send Expedition 37 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins and Russian Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 26.09.2013
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Frams: NASA-TV
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BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), September 26 A Russian Soyuz-FG rocket with the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft has blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS), Russia’s space agency Roscosmos reported Thursday.
The liftoff occurred at 00:58 a.m. Moscow Time Thursday (2058 GMT Wednesday) from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft is due to dock with the ISS some six hours after the launch.
The new expedition’s crew consists of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky and NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins.
Kotov is the most experienced of the three crewmembers. He has flown two long-duration spaceflights aboard the ISS, logging just short of a year in space. Ryazansky and Hopkins have no previous spaceflight experience.
The Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad at Baikonur on Monday.
This is the third consecutive manned flight to the ISS under the “short” six-hour flight program. Before March this year, all manned Soyuz missions were carried out under a two-day scheme.
The current ISS crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and astronauts Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.
Quelle: RIANOVOSTI
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Update
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US-Russian Crew Arrives at Space Station After 6-Hour Flight
MOSCOW, September 26 A Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station.
“The spaceship reached its docking port at 06:45 (02:45 GMT) Moscow time in an automatic regime,” a source at the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
It was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 00:59 Moscow time (20:59 GMT). At 01:08 (21:08 GMT) Moscow time the spacecraft separated from a launch vehicle and achieved the desired orbit.
Soyuz TMA-10M ferried to the ISS an international crew - Soyuz TMA-10M commander Oleg Kotov, a space station veteran, rookie flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy and first-time NASA flier Michael Hopkins, who will have to work in the orbit for over four months.
Quelle: ITARTASS
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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new crewmembers is seen approaching the International Space Station on Sept. 25, 2013. The Soyuz ferried American astronaut Mike Hopkins and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy to the space station.
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In this image provided by NASA-TV the New Expedition 37 crew members, foreground from left: Mike Hopkins, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Oleg Kotov, were welcomed aboard the International Space Station Thursday Sept. 26, 2013 at 12:34 a.m. EDT. Their Soyuz spacecraft docked to the space station on Wed. at 10:45 p.m. EDT, four orbits after launch at 4:58 p.m. from Kazakhstan. The new residents were greeted by Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, rear center and Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg, left, and Luca Parmitano. Photo: NASA
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A Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station early Thursday, bringing the size of the crew at the orbiting outpost to six. The new crew's six-month mission will include a spacewalk with the Olympic torch.
American Michael Hopkins and Russians Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky traveled six hours in the capsule from the Russian-leased launch pad in Kazakhstan before linking up with the space station's Russian Poisk research module at 6.45 a.m. Moscow time (0245GMT).
Kotov is the most experienced member of the crew with two previous six-month missions in space under his belt, while Hopkins and Ryazansky are both on their first missions.
The incoming crew entered the station nearly two hours after the docking, where they were welcomed by Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA's Karen Nyberg and Italy's Luca Parmitano, who have been on the orbiting lab since May and will be returning to Earth in November.
Kotov and Ryazansky will have the honor of taking the Olympic torch into open space in November as part of the relay of the Olympic flame ahead of the Winter Games being held in Russia's Sochi in February. The torch will not be lit however, because of safety concerns. It will only arrive at the station in November with the next mission.
Shortly after entering the station, Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazansky had a chat via a video-link with their families back at the Baikonur launch pad where they had seen them off more than eight hours before.
Radiant but visibly tired, the astronauts were yawning as they were talking to their families. They had been up for about 20 hours.
Hopkins' mother described the launch as a "heart-stopping experience."
"It was a pretty good ride, mom. It was a lot of fun," Hopkins replied in the live broadcast on NASA TV.
Quelle: SF Gate
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Frams: NASA-TV - Ankunft von TMA10-M bei ISS
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