A Soyuz rocket of the Russian government will launch the Soyuz MS-2 manned spacecraft5 to the International Space Station this Thursday. The mission will carry Russian commander Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian flight engineer Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson into orbit for a long duration flight on the space station.

The Belarusian will become the first cosmonaut today. Vasilévskaya, a steward of the Belarusian airline BelAvia, was appointed a member of the crew of the ship that will be commanded by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitski, and will be completed by NASA astronaut Caldwell Dyson Tracy.

The rocket will dock in the Prichal module about three hours after takeoff. On your return trip, twill bring back Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub. NASA has already published the first images of the event in which the three equipped members appear.

Initially, the launch was scheduled for European spring of 2024, as announced the executive director of Roscosmos for manned space programs, Sergei Krikaliov in February 2023. But a breakdown that occurred in the Soyuz S-22 spacecraft, which while docked to the ISS lost airtightness in one of its systems, caused the postponement of the mission. The Soyuz S-22 spacecraft had to return to Earth without a crew and altered the flight schedule.

This cross flight takes place after the extension until 2025 of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos from the agreement with NASA on mixed manned flights to the aforementioned station. The first crossover flight took place in September 2022, when American astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.

Two weeks later, Russian cosmonaut Anna Kíkina traveled to the orbital platform on a Crew Dragon. In March 2023, the Russian Andrei Fedyaev returned to Earth on an American ship and was relieved by Konstantin Borisov on the Crew Dragon.