Soyuz MS-17 has relocated to a new docking port in preparation for a spree of upcoming vehicle arrivals at the International Space Station. The relocation ensures that a Russian spacewalk in June can proceed, which will prepare the station for its first major addition in a decade.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Soyuz schedule<\/p>\n
Soyuz MS-17 arrived at the ISS on 14 October 2020, with its crew of Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, along with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. It initially docked to Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) Rassvet.<\/p>\n
Soyuz MS-18 is set to launch to the station on 9 April for a three-hour fast-rendezvous profile, with its crew of cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, and recently announced NASA astronaut Mark Vande-Hei.<\/p>\n
This means that the MS-18 and MS-17 crews will have a week-long \u201cdirect handover\u201d period prior to MS-17 departing on 17 April, as opposed to the usual \u201cindirect handover\u201d whereby one Soyuz departs prior to another arriving<\/p>\n
This direct handover is necessary in order to maintain a Russian presence on the ISS between Soyuz flights, as the remainder of the station\u2019s crew all arrived via a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which does not yet fly Russian cosmonauts.<\/p>\n