Expedition 72 Crew in Kazakhstan Prelaunch: Part 1 | International Space Station

Expedition 72 Crew in Kazakhstan Prelaunch: Part 1 | International Space Station

Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner of Russia, right, wave as they depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner of Russia, right, receive the traditional blessing at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to departing for suit-up and launch on a Soyuz rocket, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit receives the traditional blessing

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia receives the traditional blessing

Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner of Russia receives the traditional blessing

NASA astronaut Don Pettit puts his hand up to the bus window and his family reaches back to him, as he and fellow crew mates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner of Russia, depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. 

NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia successfully launched aboard their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 11, 2024. A little over three hours later, the trio docked to the Rassvet module of the International Space Station for the start of a six-month mission on the orbital laboratory as members of the Expedition 71 and 72 crews.

Expedition 71 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Image Date: Sept. 11, 2024

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