After a record breaking 879 days in space, #Russiancosmonaut #GennadyPadalka has returned to Earth. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/12/record-breaking-russian-cosmonaut-touches-101/

How many people can say they’ve spent a record breaking 879 days in space? Now Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka can. He, and two astronauts have arrived safely in Kazakhstan, after leaving the International Space Station in the Soyuz Capsule. The two astronauts, who were both space newbies, were in orbit for 10 days as they attached the Soyuz to the ISS and then go back with the record breaking Russian cosmonaut. Andreas Mogensen, who is Denmark’s first man in space, and Aidyn Aimbetov, who is Kazakhstan’s first man in space, were the other two crew mates.

THE RUSSIAN COSMONAUT AND HIS SOYUZ CAPSULE

The Soyuz had brought Mogensen and Aimbetov to the station along with another Russian cosmonaut who would replace Padalka, named Sergei Volkov. When they arrived to the station, there were a total of 9 people from multiple countries gathered there. After packing the Soyuz spacecraft, they were ready to head home. At 9:39, the Soyuz spacecraft left the ISS station for Central Kazakhstan. The capsule itself has to mechanically leave the ISS, because firing any rockets towards the ISS would be too dangerous. American astronaut Scott Kelly, who monitored the descent of the spacecraft to Earth, actually tweeted pictures of the Soyuz on his account. After breaking Earth’s atmosphere, the parachute released, the retrorockets thrusted and slowed the capsule down enough so it doesn’t explode once it reaches Earth’s surface. Even with all that could go wrong, the capsule landed safely at 06:51 am and people rushed to the scene to help the spacemen out of the spacecraft.

RECORD BREAKING DAYS IN SPACE

Padalka has gone on 4 missions to the ISS in total, and broke fellow Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev’s record pf 803 days total in space. He is also the first person to command the International Space Station 4 times. His first space mission was in 1998, and he had been going up to Russia’s MIR space station. In his most recent ISS stay, he was up there for 168 days. When the medics asked about his conditions following spending that much time in space, Padalka replied, “I am fine.” During this, he was sipping on tea and eating an apple.

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Record Breaking Russian Cosmonaut Touches Down to Earth

A crew of astronauts took off in a #Soyuz rocket headed to the #ISS, accompanied by #LEGOS and bicycles. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/04/iss-bikes-and-legos123/

A trio of astronauts took off in the Soyuz rocket on Sept. 2, accompanied by Legos and bicycles. “The crew is doing well, everything is in order onboard,” relayed mission control. The crew is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 4.

ABOUT THE CREW HEADED TO THE ISS

The 3-man crew on the 2-day flight to the ISS consists of Veteran cosmonaut, Sergei Volkov of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, military pilot Aidyn Aimbetov from Kazakhstan and Andreas Mogensen. Mogensen, who was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009, is the first Danish person to fly to space. Volkov will stay at the ISS for six months while both Aimbetov and Mogensen plan to return to Earth next week. The crew was also accompanied by about 20 Lego mini-figures. Go figure.

WHY BRING LEGOS TO SPACE?

The little plastic Lego astronauts will act as prizes for a contest which invites Danish schoolchildren to produce videos about the country’s mission in space, and share them on YouTube, according to CBS News. Mogensen brought the Legos, which were produced in Denmark, along with him on the trip. Taking a lighter approach with serious space trips could encourage and inspire younger generations to get involved with space travel and research in the future.

FURTHER PLANS FROM THE CREW

Danish astronaut, Mogensen, also plans to test out exercise bicycles aboard the ISS. Considering nine out of ten Danes own a bicycle, it comes as no surprise that the bikes were built by Danish Aerospace Company for the Soyuz rocket. Mogensen will test out a new heart rate monitor and force-measuring pedals on these seatless bikes (none are needed for zero gravity conditions). These machines will help astronauts battle the negative physical impacts of being in space.

Besides testing out bikes and playing with Legos, the crew will also carry out a total of 47 scientific experiments in space, according to Nature World Report. The impact of space travel will be monitored for Mogensen and Aimbetov, as their short voyage is unique since missions normally last several months, according to ESA. Hopefully these results can help us better accommodate humans during space travel, inspiring us to want to launch to space in the future.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdcU4nKKV2E

Bikes and Legos Accompany Crew Headed to ISS

#Sushi and #diplomacy in #space thanks to #RussianSoyuz. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/23/russian-soyuz-brings-three-more-men-to-iss-sushi-ensues-234/

Thanks to Russian Soyuz once again, another Russian cosmonaut, American astronaut, and Japanese space traveler rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) this Thursday. This came following a smooth lift off from the Russian launch facility in Kazakhstan 5 hours and 45 minutes earlier, on the previous Wednesday, 2102 GMT.

After takeoff, the rocket achieved orbit roughly fifteen minutes post-launch, orbiting the planet four times before it approached the space station.

THIS TIME WE’VE SENT HUMANS

Contained in the Russian Soyuz capsule were the Russian Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui from Japan, and NASA’s Kjell Lindgren. For Lindgren and Yui, this was their first time. During a press conference preceding the flight upon the Russian Soyuz, Yui informed interested parties that he’s bringing sushi with him to share with the other space travelers upon his arrival.

SUSHI RENDEZVOUS TO ENSUE ON RUSSIAN SOYUZ

These new additions to the ISS join the already present crew: Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly. Mikhail and Scott are four months in to what will have been an almost year-long mission in the ISS.

This successful Russian Soyuz launch and rendezvous with the ISS is actually the tail end of a two-month delay following a failed launch of an unmanned Russian cargo ship in April. Some system failures are always to be expected, but the Russians became concerned enough to forestall future launches pending a reassessment of their rocket design. This had left the already present crew mentioned shortly above (Padalka, Kornienko and Kelly) stuck in space with dwindling supplies until a second Russian cargo ship launched successfully earlier this July.

SPACE RIVALS

This year, it seems the Russian Space program is in better standing when it comes to orbital flights. The last Russian cargo ship successfully launched also followed the failed launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket , which exploded roughly 3 minutes after launch. SpaceX has since come to believe the explosion was caused by a steel strut holding down a bottle of high-pressure helium.

SPACE FRIENDS

Of course it’s unfortunate that three major space programs, one private and two national, happened to experience such catastrophic failures in the same few months, but with three new astronauts safely aboard the ISS, we can rest assured human space ventures will continue unheeded.

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Though without sushi, this space adventure can’t be missed:

Russian Soyuz Brings Three More Men to ISS, Sushi Ensues

Third time"s the charm? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/05/resupply-mission-successfully-reaches-the-iss-234/

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) breathed a collective sigh of relief after receiving much-needed supplies thanks to the ISS resupply mission.

ISS RESUPPLY MISSION SUCCESS AT LAST

Russia’s Progress 60 cargo spaceship launched atop a Soyuz-U rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:55 a.m. ET on Friday, July 3. The craft reached orbit nine minutes after launch. And it successfully docked with the ISS at 3:11 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 5.

Progress 60 delivered more than three tons of supplies including food, water, fuel, oxygen, spare parts, and experiments to the ISS.

The spacecraft will remain docked to the ISS for four months.

This successful ISS resupply mission launch and docking comes after a string of unsuccessful attempts to resupply the ISS with essential supplies.

The third time’s the charm as the say! #Progress60 arrives overnight. Great news. #YearInSpace (with supplies!) pic.twitter.com/BRRFA13ER1

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) July 5, 2015

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket broke apart shortly after launch on June 28, destroying its cargo-carrying Dragon spacecraft. A Russian Progress cargo spaceship spiraled out of control and was lost shortly after its launch in April 2015. And Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo capsule exploded just above its launch platform in October 2014.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

The station’s crew is thrilled by the successful ISS resupply mission, Progress 60 mission, describing that receiving the needed supplies feels like “Christmas in July.”

#Progress docks to Pirs docking compartment at 3:11am ET. Crew reports, “Feels like Christmas in July” pic.twitter.com/pVoGUG5aQL

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 5, 2015

Because of the previous failed missions, the crew was just months away from needing to break into emergency reserve supplies.

The new supplies should be enough to sustain the station through November. The next mission to resupply the ISS is Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle, scheduled to launch in mid-August.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

SpaceX is still investigating the cause of the June 28 Falcon 9 failure. The private space company hopes to learn from its first failed ISS resupply attempt and continue improving its space flight capabilities.

SpaceX plans to test an in-flight abort feature to demonstrate the ability of the Dragon capsule to separate from its rocket in the event of a rocket malfunction—something that could save cargo and, eventually, astronauts’ lives, if a similar event like the June 28 ISS resupply mission rocket failure occurs.

The company recently announced that it will launch this abort test from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida instead of the originally planned location of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Orbital Sciences has essentially been grounded since the failure of its Antares rocket. But the company’s Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in late 2015.

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Resupply Mission Successfully Reaches the ISS