CAP CANAVERAL, Fla. – Three astronauts flew to the International Space Station on Thursday, leaving the virus-infested planet with little fanfare and no circle of relatives at the launch site to say goodbye.
NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Russia arrived at the orbital lab in their Soyuz capsule six hours after taking off from Kazakhstan and joined two Americans and a Russian returning to Earth in a week.
There is no social distance at 420 kilometers (260 miles): while floating at the area station one by one, the new astronauts hugged the 3 who were already there. They had been quarantined before launch for a month.
New team members will remain on board until October, keeping the outpost running until SpaceX releases a couple of NASA astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, starting next month. This will be the first orbital release of American astronauts since the completion of NASA’s space shuttle. program in 2011.
Thursday’s takeoff was quiet, even through Russian standards, given the coronavirus pandemic that hit the world. NASA televised the take-off live as usual, but only a few workers from the Russian-based area were at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Cassidy’s wife, Peggy, saw the NASA project statement in Houston and returned home a few weeks ago after saying goodbye to her husband at the cosmonaut’s headquarters in Star City, Russia.
“No virus is more powerful than the human preference to scan,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted. “I am grateful to @NASA and @roscosmos for their determination to make this release a success. “
On the eve of takeoff, astronauts said they felt fantastic after being in strict quarantine. The few crowds generally remained some distance from the astronauts; even the Orthodox priest who provided the standard blessing was a few feet away.
“Obviously we would like to have our families here with us, however, that’s what we perceive we want to do to be safe,” Cassidy said Wednesday. “The global total is also affected by the same crisis. “
Ivanishin added: “We were remote at this maximum level of training. “
There has been some other twist, but still the coronavirus: Ivanishin and Vagner were assigned to the flight just two months ago, after one of the original members of the Russian team suffered eye injuries.
Due to the overdue equipment exchange, Ivanishin and Vagner had no clothes waiting for them at the area station. They took some additional gadgets with them on the Soyuz, and are expected to arrive more in the next shipment from the Russian source beyond it. Month.
NASA and Russian Space Agency officials were among the few facing the astronauts, protecting a glass wall, before they went to the launch pad. The room is usually full of families, friends and types of area programs; On Thursday, the rows of seats were almost all empty and journalists were among those who stayed away.
“It was an amazing launch and docking,” NASA’s project radioed from Houston after the team arrived. All the way, I couldn’t be prouder. “
“We are pleased to be here,” said Cassidy, a captain in the Navy.
This is cassidy and Ivanishin’s third flight, and Vagner’s first.
NASA members Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Russian Oleg Skripochka are already on board, and are expected to return to Earth on April 17.
The director of Roscosmos, the signing of the Russian area, said this week that nine workers had tested positive for coronavirus. Roscosmos controls a vast network of production plants and release facilities, and has about 200,000 workers, said director Dmitry Rogozin, who attended Thursday’s release. .
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Isachenkov contributed from Moscow.
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