Christina Koch has shared an incredible image of a Soyuz MS 15 rocket en route to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). The NASA flight engineer posted the photo on Twitter on Wednesday with the accompanying caption: “What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space.” The out-of-this-world image shows the Soyuz MS-15 rocket leaving Earth’s atmosphere towards the ISS.
The Expedition 61 rocket sent three people to the iconic space laboratory orbiting 250 miles (400km) over Earth.
Accompanying Jessica Meir, NASA astronaut and Ms Koch’s best friend, were Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori from the United Arab Emirates.
The NASA astronauts, who met during preparatory training, are now reunited in space where they will work together until February 2020.
Ms Koch added in another post: “Caught the second stage in progress! We can’t wait to welcome you on board, crew of Soyuz 61!”
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The Soyuz successfully docked to the ISS at 8.42pm BST (3.42pm ET) on the same day of the launch.
NASA has revealed how Expedition 61 will involve the ISS crew installing new lithium-ion batteries for two of the station’s solar array power channels in series of spacewalks.
Spacewalks are also scheduled for upgrading and repairing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).
This is an important scientific instrument housed outside the space station to study dark matter and the origins of the Universe.
When Christina Koch finally heads home, she will have completed 355 days in space, the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
The NASA astronaut frequently shares stunning images of her enviable view from space.
Earlier this year, the NASA astronaut shared a detailed image of the Earth transition from day into night.
She captioned the photo: “A couple times a year, the @Space_Station orbit happens to align over the day/night shadow line on Earth.
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“We are continuously in sunlight, never passing into Earth’s shadow from the Sun, and the Earth below us is always in dawn or dusk.
The NASA astronaut added: “Beautiful time to cloud watch. #nofilter.”
The International Space Station orbits roughly 220 miles above the Earth and completes one trip around our planet every 92 minutes.
ISS travels at an astonishing 17,200mph (27,600kmh), allowing astronauts to be able to see as many as 15 or 16 sunrises and sunsets every day.
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