Russian Soyuz brings crew of 3 to International Space Station

Two days after launch, a Russian Soyuz crew shuttle docked with the International Space Station on Monday and moved in for a perfect docking, carrying two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut, beginning a stay six months in orbit.

With Soyuz MS-25/71S commander Oleg Novitskiy, guest astronaut from Belarus Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson monitoring the automated approach, the spacecraft entered from below and docked in the Prichal module overlooking Earth at at 11:03 a.m. EDT.

After leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal, the hatches were opened and the Soyuz crew entered the station, greeted by ISS Commander Oleg Kononenko, cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, along with NASA astronauts Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps.

“Marina, you opened the door for Belarus to be in space,” Russian mission control radioed from Moscow. “So you have a great and safe mission. Enjoy your work, your free time. We are very proud of you. All the people of Belarus (are) proud of you.”

Vasilevskaya, smiling broadly, said through a translator: “I am very happy that Belarus has reached the International Space Station safely and soundly.”

“It took us two days, but we're in good spirits and I'm so glad it went the way it did. I loved every aspect of it. … We're so glad you're supporting us. It's a pleasure to great for us and brings us strength.”

NASA's mission control team congratulated Novitskiy on his safe return “to your second home. We're happy to see you back on the station.”

“Tracy, it's so great to see your smiling face back on the ISS,” said Costa Mavrides, NASA's spacecraft communicator. “Everyone here in Houston, including your family and friends in the viewing room, is beaming with pride watching the screen.”

Kononenko, Chubb and O'Hara were launched last September aboard Soyuz shuttle MS-24/70S as Dominick, Barratt, Epps, and Grebenkin arrived earlier this month aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

Dyson is replacing O'Hara, who will return to Earth on April 6 with Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya aboard the older MS-24/70S spacecraft that took her into orbit last year. Dyson will return home next September with Kononenko and Chub using the MS-25/71S spacecraft delivered by Novitskiy.

The Soyuz exchange was necessary because Kononenko and Chub are in the middle of a one-year stay on the station, and Russian crew craft are not certified for flights lasting more than six months.

After the launch of Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya and O'Hara, NASA astronauts on the station will continue with ongoing research and prepare for the arrival of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in early May, the first pilot flight of an alternative sponsored by NASA for SpaceX's Crew Dragon. .

After two unmanned test flights and extensive work to correct software problems and unexpected problems with corroded propulsion system valves, NASA and Boeing officials say the spacecraft is finally ready to carry astronauts to and from the station.

For the next “crew test flight,” astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams will test the shuttle's automated and manual control systems during the trip to and from the station, spending about 10 days aboard the mail.

If the flight goes well, the Starliner will be certified for use on future crewed ISS orbit missions, alternating with SpaceX's Crew Dragon and providing NASA with redundancy when it comes to launching astronauts to and from the space station.

“Today, all of our Crew Dragons are launching on (SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets),” said space station program manager Dana Weigel. “If there was a problem with the F9, for example, and we had to stay down for a while … if we had another vehicle, we could keep flying.”

And it would help ensure a permanent US presence aboard the space station.

“So that's why, when we talk about having multiple providers, why it's so important for us to have that continuous capability,” Weigel said.