Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft with US-Russian crew launched for ISS

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday for the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's Roscosmos space agency said.

The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft was carrying Russians Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.This is the first flight for Kim and Zubritsky, and the third for Ryzhikov.

According to NASA, Soyuz MS-27 will dock to the Prichal module of the Russian segment of the Station on Tuesday. After docking, this Soyuz will join Soyuz MS-26, Crew Dragon Endurance, Progress MS-29, and Progress MS-30 as part of the visiting vehicle complement at the orbiting laboratory.

The three Soyuz MS-27 crew members will join the Crew-10 and Soyuz MS-26 astronauts on the ISS, increasing the number of people on the Station to 10 during the handover between the MS-26 and MS-27 crews. Soyuz MS-26 is scheduled to undock from the Station on April 20, whereupon Expedition 72 will come to a close, and Expedition 73 will begin.

Soyuz MS-27 is scheduled to spend eight months docked to the Russian segment of the ISS, with its return to Earth scheduled for Dec. 8. During the crew’s time in orbit, they will conduct experiments and maintenance work on the Station’s systems.

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