Soyuz Crew Sets Record For Fastest Trip To International Space Station
Screenshot from NASA TV of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station. Via Universe Today How'd they do it? The crew of Expedition 36 aboard the Soyuz TMA-09M set a record for the fastest trip ever to the International Space Station. From launch to docking, the trip took 5 hours and 39 minutes. That's six minutes faster than the previous Soyuz that used the new "fast track" four-orbit rendezvous. Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano docked their Soyuz to the station's Rassvet module at 02:16 UTC on May 29 (10:16 p.m. EDT on May 28). "Thank you for the best spacecraft, finer than the best pocket watch!" Yurchikhin radioed to Mission Control in Moscow after docking. Launch took place at 20:31 UTC (4:31 p.m. EDT) Tuesday (2:31 a.m. May 29, Baikonur time). The...