The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:24 p.m. EST. Credit: NASA TV
Following the launch at 7:24 p.m. ESTEST is an abbreviation for Eastern Standard Time, the time zone for the eastern coast of the United States and Canada when observing standard time (autumn/winter). It is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, and the Kennedy Space Center are in the Eastern Time Zone (ET).” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>EST on Thursday, February 23, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft is safely in orbit headed for the International Space Station (ISS). Although Soyuz MS-23 is dubbed a “rescue” spacecraft in the media, NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA refers to it as a “replacement.” The ship will return the crew originally meant to ride Soyuz MS-22 back to Earth, before it was deemed “not viable for a normal crew return” because of a radiator coolant leak,
After a two-day journey, the unpiloted spacecraft will dock automatically to the Poisk module’s space-facing port at 8:01 p.m. Saturday, February 25. NASA coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 7:15 p.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
This long-duration photograph shows the Earth 259 miles below a soaring International Space Station. In the foreground, is the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship docked to the Prichal docking module which is itself attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Credit: NASA
This new Soyuz will replace the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft following a radiator coolant leak on December 14, 2022. The Soyuz MS-22 transported NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin to the space station last September. The three crew members will return to Earth on the new Soyuz MS-23 later this year.
The damaged Soyuz MS-22 is scheduled to undock from the station in late March and return to Earth for an uncrewed parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan, and post-flight analysis by Roscosmos.
Source: SciTechDaily
