Russian-US crew welcomed aboard the space station
In this image made from video footage released by Roscosmos Space Agency, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with the Soyuz MS-17 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Roscosmos Space Agency via AP)MOSCOW โ A trio of space travelers blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, using for the first time a fast-track maneuver that allowed them to reach the orbiting outpost in just a little over three hours. NASAโs Kate Rubins along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled Wednesday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station. For the first time, they tried a two-orbit approach and docked with the space station in just a little over three hours after lift-off. Ryzhikov, who will be the stationโs skipper, said the crew will try to pinpoint the exact location of a leak at a stationโs Russian section that has slowly leaked oxygen.
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These basic functions prove challenging on International Space Station -- hereโs how astronauts cope
Here are answers to five questions about what โbasicโ life is like for astronauts on the ISS. As if they are going to a restaurant, astronauts can choose which food items they want off of a menu. On the ISS, astronauts use liquid soap, water and no rinse shampoo. Given the microgravity means, there is no up or down, and astronauts can sleep in any orientation, according to NASA. The station has small crew cabins with sleeping bags that astronauts sleep in.