Today at At 15.54 Norwegian time, three astronauts take off from the cosmodrome in Baikonur in Kazakhstan. You can follow the launch here. American Frank Rubio will sit in the rocket together with Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin. With that, Rubio becomes the first American to go to the ISS since Putin started the war in Ukraine on February 24 of this year. – This is an incredibly important assignment. The cooperation with Roskosmos (the Russian space agency, ed.) is good. I have become good friends with my Russian colleagues, Rubio told Newsweek a couple of weeks ago. After a trip of three hours, the trio will arrive at the ISS around 19 Norwegian time. Astronaut Frank Rubio (right) and cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin (left) train in Star City, Russia, to go to the International Space Station. Photo: GCTC/ROSCOSMOS / Reuters Russia withdraws The three astronauts will man the space station for six months. They are apparently among the last who will have the opportunity to visit the ISS. – I think it is important that when there are high tensions elsewhere, we continue to cooperate in space travel. It is a form of diplomacy and partnership that we can find common interests and accomplish great things together, Rubio said of the trip. The Soyuz MS22 rocket is transported to the launch platform in Baikonur. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters After President Vladimir Putin started the war in Ukraine, relations with the US and the West have been catastrophically bad, and many feared that this would have consequences for space cooperation. Russia announced at the end of July that they will withdraw from the station from 2024. They will focus on building their own station. Sergei Prokopiev and Frank Rubio test out their spacesuits before the journey to the ISS on Wednesday 21 September. Photo: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP The end of 26 years of cooperation The International Space Station ISS was put into operation in 1998. The station now weighs a total of 444 tonnes, and is located 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP Russia’s withdrawal from the ISS will mark the end of a 26-year-old collaborative project between five different space agencies: Nasa (USA). Roskosmos (Russia). The European Space Agency ESA (Europe, including Norway). The Japanese space research organization JAXA. The Canadian Space Agency CSA. Since 1998, the 109 meter wide spacecraft has welcomed more than 250 astronauts from 20 different countries. Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world’s largest and oldest operating rocket launch base. The base is under Russian control, although it is located in Kazakhstan. Space X sends four new astronauts in October Rubio, Prokopiev and Petelin will be joined by four more astronauts as early as next month. Among these four are two American Nasa astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina. Kikina is Russia’s only active female cosmonaut. She becomes the fifth woman from Russia and the former Soviet Union to visit the ISS. The group will travel to the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon rocket from Space X in early October. Then the launch will take place in Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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Two Russians and an American are going to the ISS – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
