Cosmonaut assumes command of ISS ahead of Thursday morning departure of SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission
Thomas Marshburn just checked off just one of the last jobs on his orbital to-do checklist.
The NASA astronaut handed command of the Intercontinental Room Station (ISS) above to cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev currently (Could 4), the last working day aboard the orbiting lab for Marshburn and the other a few associates of SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission.
“I imagine the lasting legacy of the area station is pretty very likely to be worldwide cooperation and a place of peace,” Marshburn reported through a webcast improve-of-command ceremony this afternoon.
“Oleg, you might be a incredibly strong and seasoned cosmonaut,” Marshburn advised Artemyev. “I know we’ll be leaving the room station in very good palms with you.”
In photos: SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronaut launch for NASA
NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn (still left) hugs Oleg Artemyev shortly right after handing command of the International Room Station about to the cosmonaut on May well 4, 2022. (Impression credit: NASA Television)
Marshburn then mentioned some terms to the cosmonaut in Russian and handed him the ceremonial vital to the ISS.
“Thank you for the key, and thank you for the friendship,” Artemyev responded in English. “It was an unbelievable time together,” he additional, stressing the significance of this sort of cooperation and friendship for “household, our children and peace concerning our international locations.”
Artemyev and Marshburn then hugged as the other ISS crewmembers applauded.
It was a effective moment, supplied all that is occurring down listed here on Earth. Most of Russia’s space partnerships have splintered in the aftermath of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and its position as a important ISS spouse has appear into dilemma.
For example, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s federal area agency Roscosmos, has continuously threatened to withdraw from the ISS application unless of course sanctions imposed on Russia soon after the Ukraine invasion are lifted. (It truly is difficult to know how significantly to consider this sort of threats, even so, given that bluster is maybe Rogozin’s foundation placing.)
The Crew-3 mission consists of Marshburn, fellow NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and the European Area Agency’s Matthias Maurer. The quartet arrived at the ISS in November aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule named Stamina, and their time in orbit is nearly up.
Endurance is scheduled to depart the ISS Thursday morning at 1:05 a.m. EDT (0505 GMT) and splash down off the Florida coast about 24 hrs afterwards, at 12:43 a.m. EDT (0443 GMT) on Friday (Might 6). You can watch all of this motion reside listed here at Place.com, courtesy of NASA.
The protection will commence tonight at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT on May well 5), with the closing of the hatches amongst Endurance and the ISS predicted to manifest about 20 minutes later on. Coverage will resume at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 GMT) on Thursday, 20 minutes before the scheduled undocking.
Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018 illustrated by Karl Tate), a ebook about the research for alien existence. Observe him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcomor onFacebook.
