By Brooke Edwards
On October 14, astronaut Kate Rubins launched to the International Space Station with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. This mission is Rubin’s second space flight. Her first was in 2016, when she became the first person to successfully sequence DNA in microgravity.
The launch was momentous for multiple reasons. In addition to falling on Rubin’s birthday, the flight to the ISS was a super-fast one, taking only three hours and two orbits. In the past, some flights took up to two days to complete. Most importantly, it is likely one of the last flights of NASA astronauts on a Russian Soyuz. Following the successful SpaceX Demo -2 flight this the summer, Nasa plans to continue launching astronauts to the ISS from American soil.
While NASA makes progress on its SLS and Orion Crew Capsule that will fly astronauts to the moon in 2024, the agency has been successfully partnering with commercial space companies to ferry astronauts to the ISS from America. In November, we will see another crewed SpaceX launch from America. The Crew 1 mission will fly not two, but four people this time around. Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and JAXA’s (Japan’s space agency) Soichi Noguchi will fly to the ISS onboard the Crew Dragon Capsule they named “Resilience.”
They will join Kate Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov on the ISS. The Crew 1 launch, originally scheduled for Halloween, was delayed due to the need for additional testing.
This final flight of 2020 falls near the 20th anniversary of humans continuously living in space. The first crew to the International Space Station was launched on October 31, 2000. Had the SpaceX Crew 1 launch taken place on the planned date, it would have been on this remarkable anniversary.
As research on the ISS continues to help life on Earth, it also prepares for future human missions to the moon and beyond. Who knows what incredible achievements in space we will be commemorating in another 20 years? Celebrate the International Space Station’s 20th anniversary using #SpaceStation20th on social media. You can also follow Rubin’s stay on the ISS via Facebook @ISS_Research and on Twitter @Space_Station.
If you are interested in learning even more, please join me for a Zoom event at 6 p.m., Nov. 17, for a fun discussion about the history and science of the ISS. RSVP via Facebook at: https://fb.me/e/ib71HOBF4 or contact me at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/ambassadors/1870/.
