Category: soyuz

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expedition 16 arrives at the ISS

Expedition 16 Crew arrives at the international space station (ISS)The expedition 16 crew already docked on Friday to the international space station (ISS). I had set up a webcam robot last Friday, but could not check the recordings until now. I think I discovered some nice images of hatch opening and and crew arrival. I created an animated gif file out of the few frames I have. The first two images show the hatch, and the later ones show how the joint expedition 15 and 16 crews gather together for the welcome ceremony.

Again, proper station handover is a prerequisite for a successful STS-120 mission. So Discovery won’t start until the station is ready to support it.

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Soyuz Spacecraft has docked to ISS

Right at this moment, the Soyuz spacecraft with the expedition 16 crew has successfully docked to the international space station. This is a very important milestone, as proper crew exchange is a vital perquisite for a successful STS-120 mission and thus needed before space shuttle Discovery can launch.

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Expedition 16 rockets to ISS

Expedition 16 Crew rockets into space inside a Soyuz capsule.I found this nice image of the expedition 16 rocketing into space inside their Soyuz capsule. Look how cramped it is in the Soyuz spacecraft. It’s design is quite old, but it is extremely reliable. The Russian space agency is also considering a new design with more room.

When the space shuttle is retired in 2010, the Soyuz will be the only spacecraft capable of ferrying crew to and from the space station. The US will catch up with that a few years later when the Orion, also a capsule design, but much roomier, has made its maiden flight.