NASA's Scott Tingle Blasts Off For International Space Station For Six Month Mission With Russian Japanese Astronauts

Three astronauts blasted off from a port at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday bound for the Interntional Space Station, NASA announced.

The crew, which consists of U.S. astronaut Scott Tingle, Russian Roscosmos’s Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will arrive at the station on Tuesday.

Read More: Here is the gun-toting robot Russia wants to send on the International Space Station

Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now

They replace the three astronauts, Randy Bresnik, Paolo Nespoli and Sergey Ryazansky, who flew back to Earth earlier in the week and join Alexander Misurkin, Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba, who have been there since September.

The crew members will spend more than four months on board, conducting 250 experiments across the fields of biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technological development.

NASA broadcast the launch on Twitter and 10 minutes after blasting off, Soyuz was in orbit.

NASA is focused on research into the benefits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in microgravity, advanced optical materials and electronic devices and examining a drug compound and drug delivery system that is intended to counter muscular breakdown in space or during disuse over prolonged periods of time.

Members of the International Space Station expedition 54/55, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (C), NASA astronaut Scott Tingle (R) and Norishige Kanai (L) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) during the send-off ceremony after checking their space suits before the launch of the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, 17 December 2017.Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/Reuters

The group were accompanied in their Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft with a stuffed dog toy, which will be used as a zero-gravity indicator. Chosen by the mission, the toy serves as a type of on board pendulum to helps the crew judge the gravitational pull once they have entered Earth’s orbit. 

.node-type-article .article-body > p:last-of-type::after, .node-type-slideshow .article-body > p:last-of-type::after{content:none}

Let's block ads!(Why?)

Read Again NASA's Scott Tingle Blasts Off For International Space Station For Six Month Mission With Russian, Japanese Astronauts : http://ift.tt/2AXpWrk

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Bagikan Berita Ini