Expedition 68 Soyuz launch
The Soyuz MS-22 rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos aboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023.
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and two cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing its number of residents to 10 for the coming week.
The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carrying Rubio, as well as Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos, docked to the station’s Rassvet module at 1:06 p.m. EDT. Following two orbits, docking occurred about three hours after a 9:54 a.m. launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will join the Expedition 67 crew when hatches open about 3:45 p.m. Expedition 68 will begin Thursday, Sept. 29, on the departure of Roscosmos cosmonauts Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, and outgoing station commander Oleg Artemyev. The trio will land in Kazakhstan following a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
This marks the first spaceflight for Rubio, the second for Prokopyev, and the first for Petelin. Throughout their six-month stay aboard the orbital outpost, the trio will work on science and research in technology development, Earth science, biology, human research, and more.
During Expedition 68, the arrival of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 aboard Dragon Endurance will bring four more crew members to the space station. That crew currently is scheduled for launch Monday, Oct. 3, for a short handover period with Crew-4 astronauts prior to their return to Earth shortly after.
