A Russian
Soyuz spacecraft carrying a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts has
successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The scientists'
stay on board the ISS will be the longest ever.
Deutsche Welle, 28 March 2015
According
to Russian space agency officials, the trio successfully docked the Soyuz-TMA16M
spacecraft at 01:33 a.m. (UTC) on Saturday after setting off from the Baikonur
cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:42 p.m. (UTC) on Friday.
US
astronaut Scott Kelly, 51, and 54-year-old Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko
will spend 342 days on board the 400-kilometer high (250-mile) orbiting
outpost.
Longest
stay
Kelly and
Kornienko, both of whom have flown multiple missions to orbit and have each
previously spent about six months on the ISS, will be the first people to spend
almost an entire year there.
Second
Russian cosmonaut, Gennady Padalka, will return to Earth after six months,
however.
The trip
will mark the longest amount of time that two people will live continuously on
the ISS. During the 1990s, however, four Russian cosmonauts spent between 12
and 14 months aboard the Russian space station Mir.
Mission to
Mars
The aim of
the time spent onboard the ISS is to enable scientists to gain a wider
understanding of the effects on the human body of living in microgravity for
longer time periods.
Kelly's
twin brother Mark is also taking part in the experiment. The retired US
astronaut, who previously flew to the ISS four times, will undergo regular
health checks on Earth so doctors can compare the brothers' vital signs.
Space
tourism
Speaking
ahead of Friday's launch, Kelly said the experiment could prove vital in
planning future international missions, including to Mars.
"If we
ever go beyond Low Earth orbit again, perhaps to Mars, because of the cost and
the complexity it will most likely be an international mission, so I see this
as a stepping stone to that."
The US
astronaut also said he thought the international partnership was "one of
the great success stories of the International Space Station."
In
September, the newly-arrived crew will also have a visit from the first space
tourist since 2009, British soprano Sarah Brightman. The Phantom of the Opera
star who has be training at Star City near Moscow since January is set to sing
a new song in space, written by her former husband and composer Andrew Lloyd
Webber.
ksb/bk (dpa, AFP)
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