US-Russian crew reach ISS in Soyuz capsule

22 Apr 2017

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A two-man US-Russian crew reached the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying US astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 pm local time/3:13 am EDT. There was an empty third seat in the capsule as Russia was scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory was flown to the ISS next year.

Fischer and Yurchikhin made it to the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above earth on schedule at 9:18 am EDT (1318 GMT) and about two hours later hatches between the Soyuz capsule and station opened.

Fischer, on his first space voyage, and Yurchikhin were welcomed on board the ISS by station commander Peggy Whitson and her crew. Their first task on the ISS was to call family and friends at the Russian mission control centre outside of Moscow.

"It's so beautiful," Fischer told his wife, describing the experience as "a burrito of awesomeness smothered in awesome sauce."

Fischer also spoke to his mother.

"Mom, it's like me being in Texas, depending on where we are going around the Earth, I'll be just as close," he said, Reuters reported. "I can still call you. So no need to miss me."

Ms Whitson, 57, is on her third long-duration mission, and on Monday would beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut.

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