US & Russian Soyuz MS-27 Crew: Pre-launch Activities in Kazakhstan

US & Russian Soyuz MS-27 Crew: Pre-launch Activities in Kazakhstan

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim plays rock, paper, scissors with his children as he waits to have his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked as he and fellow crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy prepare for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (April 7 Eastern Time) in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launch will send Kim, Ryzhikov, Zubritskiy on a mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is seen as he prepares to have his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked as he and fellow crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy prepare for their Soyuz launch.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim prepares to have his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov of Russia has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, front row left, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy receive the traditional blessing at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to departing for suit-up and launch on a Soyuz rocket, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, left, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Zubritskiy and Sergey Ryzhikov, right, are seen as they depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Soyuz launch.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim waves as he prepares to depart the Cosmonaut Hotel with fellow crewmates Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy to suit-up for their Soyuz launch.

In these pictures, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Russia, prepare for their Soyuz rocket launch to the International Space Station Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (April 7 Eastern Time) in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. 

The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and its crew successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:47 a.m. EDT (10:47 a.m. Baikonur time) on April 8, 2025, to the International Space Station. At 4:57 a.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Prichal module. 

The trio joined Expedition 72, including NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, and Don Pettit, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Kirill Peskov, and Ivan Vagner of Russia. The newly arrived crew members will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbital laboratory, returning to Earth in December 2025.

Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner. Ovchinin and Vagner are Roscosmos cosmonauts. The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 

JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

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.

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Capture Date: April 8, 2025

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