Rare NASA-Roscosmos Meeting Marks Soyuz Launch to ISS

The Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday on its way to the International Space Station (ISS).

The crew consists of Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon. They are scheduled to spend approximately eight months aboard the ISS as members of Expedition 75.

Soyuz successfully entered orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff. Docking with the International Space Station was scheduled for roughly three hours after launch.

The mission marked the first crewed launch from Baikonur's recently refurbished launch pad for human spaceflight. It was also notable for the joint attendance of the heads of NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

Roscosmos Director Dmitry Bakanov and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman watched the launch from Baikonur. Isaacman became the first NASA administrator to visit the cosmodrome since 2018.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, high-level meetings between NASA and Roscosmos officials have become rare despite continued cooperation aboard the International Space Station.

(Reuters, Lud)