ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst arrives at Space Station
29 May 2014
A Soyuz spacecraft launched last night from Baikonur, Kazakhstan docked with the ISS this morning, delivering ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and his Expedition 40/41 crewmates to the Space Station, where they will live and work for the next six months.
Flying with Alexander were Russian cosmonaut Maxim Viktorovich Surayev and NASA astronaut Gregory Reid Wiseman.
The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft lifted off from Baikonur at 21:57 CEST last night and reached orbit nine minutes later. After four orbits around Earth, their Soyuz arrived at the Station’s Rassvet module for docking.
Soyuz docked as planned at 03:44 CEST and the hatch was opened at 05:52. They were greeted by cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson.
Alex and his crewmates will have a week to adapt to their weightless environment before beginning their mission tasks.
Alexander’s 166-day mission, dubbed Blue Dot (after the way Earth looked in a photo taken by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft), includes an extensive scientific programme, reflecting the diversity of research conducted on the ISS.
All of the 40 or so experiments planned are designed to improve life on Earth or to prepare further exploration missions. Experiments will cover materials physics, human physiology, radiation biology and solar research, as well as biotechnology, fluid physics and astrophysics, and will also include a series of technology demonstrations.
As flight engineer, Alexander will also help dock ESA’s fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle, Georges Lemaitre, which is set for launch on 25 July.
ATVs are currently the largest supply vessels serving the ISS, delivering essential cargo, performing regular orbit reboosts and capable of manoeuvring the 420-tonne complex out of the way of hazardous space debris if need be.
Like other ESA astronauts before him, Alexander will also conduct an educational programme to inspire children to become scientists and engineers.
Follow the Blue Dot mission on Alex’s blog: http://blogs.esa.int/alexander-gerst/
Follow Alexander Gerst on Twitter: @Astro_Alex
