Russian Soyuz launches with two Russians, one American to the ISS
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The launch proceeded normally, with the crew seated in their space suits inside the descent module.
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A Soyuz 2.1a rocket roars to life and climbs away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying two veteran cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut on a flight to the International Space Station (NASA/RosCosmos)
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts, Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and US astronaut Donald Pettit, successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
The Soyuz MS-26 took off at 7:23 pm Moscow time, with video footage from Russia's Roscosmos space agency showing the spacecraft entering orbit.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit (@astro_pettit) and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner are safely in orbit aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23pm ET. Docking is set for 3:33pm later today. https://t.co/DRj5h0DfV9 pic.twitter.com/QUtFdrnc9o
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 11, 2024
The launch proceeded normally, with the crew seated in their space suits inside the descent module.
Today with crew we walk the line, next stop @iss pic.twitter.com/0UnU6PLdZ7
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) September 11, 2024
Despite setbacks in Russia's space program since the USSR's collapse, space remains one of the few areas of cooperation between the US and Russia, despite strained relations over the Ukraine conflict.
Read more: Russia unveils space plans: Satellite constellations, lunar missions
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
