Three astronauts reach ISS, after low-key launch and a month spent isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic

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The Associated PressApr 10, 2020 12:31:30 IST

Three astronauts flew to the Worldwide House Station on Thursday, departing the virus-plagued planet with little fanfare and no members of the family on the launch web site to bid them farewell.
NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived on the orbiting lab of their Soyuz capsule six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan. They joined two People and one Russian who will return to Earth in per week.
There was no social distancing 420 kilometres up: As they floated into the area station one after the other, the brand new astronauts embraced the three already there. They'd been in prelaunch quarantine for the previous month.
Three astronauts reach ISS, after low-key launch and a month spent isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic
Astronaut Chriss Cassidy and Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. picture credit score: NASA
The latest crew members will stay on board till October, conserving the outpost operating till SpaceX launches a pair of NASA astronauts from Florida’s Kennedy House Middle, as early as subsequent month. It is going to be the primary orbital launch of astronauts from the U.S. since NASA’s area shuttle program resulted in 2011.
Thursday’s liftoff was low-key even by Russian requirements, given the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. NASA televised the liftoff stay as standard, however only some Russia-based workers of the area company have been on the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Cassidy’s spouse, Peggy, watched the launch from NASA’s Mission Management in Houston. She returned dwelling just a few weeks in the past, after saying goodbye to her husband at cosmonaut headquarters in Star Metropolis, Russia.
“No virus is stronger than the human need to discover,” tweeted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I’m grateful to your entire @NASA and @roscosmos groups for his or her dedication to creating this launch successful.”
On the eve of liftoff, the astronauts mentioned they felt improbable after being in strict quarantine. The sparse crowds principally stayed a protected distance from the astronauts; even the Orthodox priest providing the customary blessing stood a number of ft away.
“Clearly, we’d like to have our households right here with us, but it surely’s what we perceive we have now to do to be protected,” Cassidy mentioned Wednesday. “The entire world can also be impacted by the identical disaster.”
Added Ivanishin: “We’ve been utterly remoted at this ultimate stage of coaching.”
There was one other twist, moreover coronavirus: Ivanishin and Vagner have been assigned to the flight simply two months in the past, after one of the original Russian crewmen suffered an eye injury.
Due to the late crew swap, Ivanishin and Vagner had no garments ready for them on the area station. They took just a few additional outfits with them on the Soyuz, with extra attributable to arrive on the subsequent Russian provide ship later this month.
Officers from NASA and the Russian House Company have been amongst only some to handle the astronauts, protected behind a glass wall, earlier than they departed for the launch pad. The room usually is full of household, buddies and area program sorts; on Thursday, the rows of seats have been virtually all empty. Journalists have been amongst these stored away.
“It was a surprising launch and docking,” NASA’s Mission Management radioed from Houston after the crew arrived. “And whereas we want we had everybody to see you off from Baikonur, we all know your loved ones and buddies, and your NASA household, have been watching the entire approach and couldn’t be extra proud.”
“We’re simply actually completely satisfied to get right here,” replied Cassidy, a Navy captain.
That is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin, and the primary for Vagner.
Already on board — and attributable to return to Earth on 17 April — are NASA’s Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka.
The director of Roscosmos — Russia’s area company — mentioned earlier this week that 9 workers have examined constructive for coronavirus. Roscosmos controls a sprawling community of manufacturing crops and launch services, and has about 200,000 workers, mentioned director Dmitry Rogozin, who attended Thursday’s launch.
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