The Soyuz rocket is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad, Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 55 crewmembers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch at 1:44 p.m. Eastern time (11:44 p.m. Baikonur time) on March 21 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Soyuz booster rocket and MS-11 spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Sat. Dec.1, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Dec. 3 and will carry Expedition 58 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Anne McClain of NASA, and Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) into orbit to begin their six and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

A Soyuz booster rocket launches the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, Baikonur time, carrying Expedition 58 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Anne McClain of NASA, and Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) into orbit to begin their six and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen at sunset on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-5 mission, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission is the fifth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch on 12:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Space Science Image of the Week:

Mars as seen by the webcam on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter on 16 October 2016, as another mission, ExoMars, is about to reach the Red Planet.

A joint endeavour between ESA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, ExoMars 2016 comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator. After a seven-month journey, the two spacecraft are closing in on their destination, with the main craft entering orbit around Mars and Schiaparelli landing on 19 October.

This image was taken on 16 October, a couple of hours before Schiaparelli separated from its mothership at 16:42 GMT. Following separation, Schiaparelli still has three days and some six million km to travel before entering the atmosphere on 19 October for a six-minute descent to a region in Meridiani Planum, close to the planet’s equator.

This recent view of the planet shows its southern pole, covered by a permanent ice cap consisting mainly of carbon dioxide. The target region for Schiaparelli’s landing is not visible, beyond the horizon on the left.

ExoMars will arrive when the planet is almost at its closest point to the Sun along its orbit, and during northern winter (southern summer). At this time in the year, wind speeds are likely to increase and could lead to regional or even global dust storms.

The image was taken with Mars Express’s simple, wide-angle camera, which was originally meant only to provide visual confirmation that its Beagle-2 lander had separated when they arrived at Mars in December 2003. Switched back on in 2007, the camera has since been used for outreach, education and citizen-science, and was eventually adopted as a professional science instrument by ESA earlier this year.

With its unique vantage point and wide field of view, this webcam can capture global images of the Red Planet, a capability currently available only on one other spacecraft operating there, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission.

Mars can be seen from Earth at the moment: it is visible as a red spot to the naked eye, low on the horizon towards the south in the early evening skies from the northern hemisphere, and reaching higher elevations in the evenings and early mornings from the southern hemisphere.

Amateur astronomers observing the Red Planet with a telescope can join the Mars focus group of the Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy project, an international group sharing images of specific astronomical objects and events taken by the amateur community to support professional astronomers.

The Mars observing campaign originally started in 2014 to monitor the passage of Comet Siding Spring near the Red Planet, and later evolved into a group dedicated to observe Mars and to provide the astronomical community with a long timeline of Mars observations, especially during times of dust activity.

This image was published on Sunday 16 October on the camera's dedicated Flickr channel, where all Mars Express webcam images are automatically posted on a daily basis.

Credit:ESA – CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017.

Bresnik, Nespoli and Ryazanskiy returned to Earth after 138 days in space, where they served as members of the Expedition 52 and 53 crews onboard the International Space Station. Their Soyuz landed safely at 3:37 a.m. EST (2:37 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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Oleg est très absorbé par PK-4. C’est une expérience fascinante qui est dans l’espace depuis… presqu’aussi longtemps que la Space Station ! PK-4 est le diminutif de Plasma Kristall. C’est une collaboration entre l’ESA et l’agence spatiale russe Roscosmos, opérée depuis le CADMOS du CNES à Toulouse 🇫🇷 Cette expérience n’est pas très visuelle (c’est pour ça que je vous montre surtout Oleg) parce qu’elle concerne des objets extrêmement petits. Les chercheurs utilisent des particules de poussière pour recréer des modéliser des atomes à une plus grande échelle. Certaines sont chargées positivement, d’autres négativement, et on fait flotter tout ça en impesanteur. Ensuite, on observe comment ces poussières se comportent et se regroupent en structure 3D, ce qu’on ne peut pas faire avec les atomes car ils sont trop petits. Ici comme souvent, les chercheurs essayent de reproduire des phénomènes naturels pour mieux les comprendre :ok hand: Les technologies développées pour réaliser cette expérience ont amélioré notre compréhension des plasmas froids et nos capacités à les manipuler. Elles ont des applications médicales aujourd’hui sur Terre : de nouveaux systèmes de désinfection dans les hôpitaux utilisent des plasmas pour aider à la guérison des blessures et traiter les bactéries résistantes aux antibiotiques.

Pour en savoir plus sur PK-4 : missionalpha.cnes.fr/fr/plasma-kristall-4-la-matiere-dans...

Oleg swapping some samples from the PK-4 experiment. This fascinating experiment is almost as old as the International Space Station itself! PK-4 stands for Plasma Kristall and is an ESA/Roscosmos collaboration, operated from Toulouse at CNES CADMOS. The experiment is not very visual so Oleg has to model it, but what is happening inside walls of Europe's Columbus laboratory is pretty amazing: researchers are recreating atoms at a larger scale using dust that is positively or negatively charged in a plasma and floating in weightlessness. This allows them to visualise how atoms behave and group into 3D structures. Like with lots of experiments, scientists are trying to recreate our natural world in a way that allows us to observe and learn. Atoms are too small to see moving, so they are using dust particles in space instead! The technology needed to build this facility has advanced our understanding and ability to manipulate cold plasma on Earth. As a direct result of this experiment new medical disinfection devices using plasma are in hospitals to help heal wounds and remove antibiotic resistant bacteria: www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Explora...

Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet

402J3069

Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA (left), Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and backup crew members Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency pose for a group photograph with their soyuz emblem Saturday, July 2, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum in Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan the morning of July 7, Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time.) All three will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Alexander Vysotsky)

The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft with Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy of NASA aboard, is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013. Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy returned to Earth after five and a half months on the International Space Station.

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Image Number: 201309110001HQ

Date: September 10, 2013

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 47 crew members Tim Kopra of NASA, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency, and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Kopra, Peake, and Malenchenko are returning after six months in space where they served as members of the Expedition 46 and 47 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz MS-18 rocket is launched with Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy, Friday, April 9, 2021, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

nhq201512150009 (12/15/2015) --- Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), top, Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, center, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), bottom, wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket for launch, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Malenchenko, Kopra, and Peake will spend the next six months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Peake will become the second British astronaut to travel to space and the first to visit the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Spaceflight was a challenge in 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to successfully and safely orbit Earth. While advances in technology have made spaceflight a regular occurrence, it can still be a risky endeavour.

Cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin of Roscosmos, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Hague, right, reminded the world of this fact last week when they set off for the International Space Station.

Their Soyuz rocket took off at 10:40 CEST 11 October for a four-orbit, six-hour journey to the International Space Station. The launcher’s four boosters take only two minutes to burn their fuel in the so-called first stage – by this time Alexei and Nick were travelling at around 6500 km/h. However, two minutes 45 seconds after liftoff, a malfunction of the second stage ignition was reported causing the launch to be aborted. The crew returned to Earth in a ‘ballistic descent mode’.

In a ballistic reentry the Soyuz capsule spins around its trajectory axis to increase stability and behaves like a spherical object.

The crew were able to make radio contact with mission control and were quickly recovered from their landing site and returned to the Baikonur, where they were greeted by relieved family members.

Launch failures are a rarity in human spaceflight. This is only the third time in the history of the Soyuz launcher that an emergency rescue system had to be activated with a crew aboard. The last time this reliable rocket failed was 35 years ago with the Soyuz T-10A. The launch escape system of the Soyuz spacecraft fired two seconds before the launch vehicle exploded, saving the crew.

All astronauts are trained countless times to deal with emergency situations. Simulators help them practice flight manoeuvres and learn the best response to all situations, from a communications glitch to a full-blown emergency like this one.

There is always the possibility of an emergency landing in a far-away place. Astronauts go through survival courses in extreme environments, preparing themselves to face all kinds of situations in isolation and under psychological stress. Crews have to learn to survive in harsh climates while waiting for rescue, only relying on very basic items and the emergency pack in their Soyuz capsule.

Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, (Kazakh time) (Nov 17 Eastern time). Whitson, Novitskiy, and Pesquet will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins waves farewell to friends and family as the bus takes him to the launch pad ahead of launching onboard the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Thursday, July 7, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan the morning of July 7, Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time.) All three will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

In this black and white infrared image, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina onboard, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission is the fifth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Mann, Cassada, Wakata, and Kikini launched at 12:00 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 55 crewmembers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch at 1:44 p.m. Eastern time (11:44 p.m. Baikonur time) on March 21 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter image of a region close to the giant Hellas basin in the southern hemisphere of Mars. The 2300 km diameter basin hosted a giant lake in the past, fed by a number of valleys. The crater in this image, located towards the northeast of Hellas, shows the presence of several gullies that point to the region’s wetter past.

The image was taken by the orbiter’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS on 29 May 2018 and captures an approximately 40.2 x 8.7 km segment centred on 33.5ºS/82.8ºE. North is to the right and slightly up in this orientation.

Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is seen after being raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015 in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for Dec. 15 and will send Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Ten photographs assembled in sequence show the International Space Station, with a crew of five onboard, in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from Fredericksburg, Va. Onboard are Expedition 63 NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) Note: Sequence repeats three times.

The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) onboard, Thursday, July 7, 2016 , Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time), Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The CaSSIS camera onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has captured its 20 000th image of Mars!

The image, taken on 13 December 2020, features Solis Dorsum, a segment of a prominent wrinkle ridge system in a vast volcanic plateau, known as Tharsis. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features that form in layered basalt lavas due to loading and flexure of the planet's crust and upper mantle. These tectonic stresses are caused by the planet's interior cooling and subsequent contraction.

The study of wrinkle ridges, and in particular their distribution and orientation, can reveal details of the complex and dynamic geological history of Mars.

The ExoMars programme is a joint endeavour between ESA and Roscosmos.

Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft moments before it launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) onboard, Thursday, July 7, 2016 , Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time), Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is seen descending into the fog as it lands with Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 (Kazakh time). Kelly and Kornienko completed an International Space Station record year-long mission to collect valuable data on the effect of long duration weightlessness on the human body that will be used to formulate a human mission to Mars. Volkov returned after spending six months on the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The International Space Station is seen in this one minute exposure as it flies over Launch Complex 39A, Saturday, April 24, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Crew Dragon with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard, which launched from Launch Complex 39A at 5:49 a.m. EDT on April 23, docked with the complex at 5:08 a.m. EDT. Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide will join the Expedition 65 crew of Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov onboard the space station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 66 crew members Mark Vande Hei of NASA, and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. Vande Hei and Dubrov are returning to Earth after logging 355 days in space as members of Expeditions 64-66 aboard the International Space Station. For Vande Hei, his mission is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history. Shkaplerov is returning after 176 days in space, serving as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 65 and commander of Expedition 66. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina onboard, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara is brought to a waiting Russian MI-8 helicopter in an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) after she, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya, landed in their Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Saturday, April 6, 2024. O’Hara is returning to Earth after logging 204 days in space as a member of Expeditions 69-70 aboard the International Space Station and Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya return after having spent the last 14 days in space. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

iss074e0812341 (July 12, 2026) --- The seven‑member Expedition 74 crew poses for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. At bottom left are Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot. At top are Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Mikaev and Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams. In the background is a flag with the Expedition 74 insignia, sent to the orbital outpost and decorated with signatures from mission controllers on the ground. Credit: NASA/Chris Williams

The International Space Station is seen in a long expsoure photograph as it flies over a railroad crossing in the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, Baikonur, Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan the morning of November 18 (Kazakh time.) All three will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft with the first British astronaut on ISS, Tim Peak, Roscosmos's Yuri Malenchenko and NASA's Tim Kopra on board blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the 'Gagarinsky' launchpad, Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (Photo by Leonid Faerberg / Transport-Photo Images)

Russian Orthodox Priest Father Sergei blesses the Soyuz rocket and members of the media at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 61 crew members Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates will launch September 25th on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Friday March 15, 2019, Kazakh time (March 14 Eastern time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch, and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, (Kazakh time) (Nov 17 Eastern time). Whitson, Novitskiy, and Pesquet will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Saturday, July 11, 2026, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

iss074e0812341 (July 13, 2026) --- The Soyuz MS‑28 crew spacecraft, which launched and docked to the International Space Station on Nov. 25, 2025, is pictured docked to the Rassvet module. The Soyuz MS‑28 will return NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev to Earth at the end of July, completing an eight‑month space research mission. Credit: NASA

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The gantry arms are raised around the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft after it was raised into a vertical position on the launch pad, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

This image shows a portion of the landing ellipse (circled) for NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which is expected to land within Jezero crater on 18 February 2021. The complete landing ellipse is 7.7 x 6.6 km, and is centered on an ancient river delta near the rim of Jezero that could hold clues about whether or not Mars was able to harbour life at some point during its ancient past. Jezero crater itself was once the site of a lake, and Perseverance will explore this region looking for signs of fossilized microbial life.

The image was taken by the CaSSIS camera on the ESA-Roscosmos Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter as part of an imaging campaign of the rover's future neighbourhood

Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

nhq201512110005 (12/11/2015) --- Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) is helped into an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) just minutes after he and Kjell Lindgren of NASA and Kimya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) landed in their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015. Kononenko, Lindgren, and Yui are returning after 141 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 44 and 45 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

The Soyuz MS-08 rocket is launched with Expedition 55 Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and flight engineers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Artemyev, Arnold, and Feustel will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Members of the media photographed the Soyuz rocket as it launched with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin were on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

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Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Image Number: 201210230007HQ

Date: October 23, 2012

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft are assembled on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is seen as the work platforms around it are closed following encapsulation in its fairing on Thursday, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, and Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

The Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft is seen in the early morning hours ahead of the scheduled launch with Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos team members, along with the Russian Search and Recovery Forces, meet to discusss the readiness for the landing of Expedition 47 crew members Tim Kopra of NASA, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency, and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos, Friday, June 17, 2016 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Kopra, Peake, and Malenchenko are scheduled to land June 18 in their Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

iss065e085340 (June 2, 2021) --- Expedition 65 Flight Engineer and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy is pictured during a seven-hour and 19-minute spacewalk to ready the Pirs docking compartment ahead of its upcoming departure. The Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, being launched soon from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will replace Pirs on the Zvezda service module's Earth-facing port.

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is seen after being raised into a vertical position on the launch pad, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. Dyson is returning to Earth after logging 184 days in space as a member of Expeditions 70-71 aboard the International Space Station and Chub and Kononenko return after having spent the last 374 days in space. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Pavel Shvets)