Soyuz MS-13 crew receive the traditional blessing from a Russian Orthodox priest

The crew of Soyuz MS-13 receive the traditional blessing from a Russian Orthodox priest prior to departing for the Baikonour cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan on 20 July 2019.

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, NASA astronaut Drew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov will be launched in their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday 20 July. This date coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and marks the start of Luca’s second space mission known as ‘Beyond’.

While in orbit, Luca will support over 50 European experiments and more than 200 international experiments. He is also expected to perform a number of spacewalks to repair the cooling systems of dark matter hunter, AMS-02.

More information about Luca’s Beyond mission is available on the blog. This will be updated throughout his mission, with updates also shared on Twitter via @esaspaceflight.