Russian, Japanese, US crew reach ISS despite minor mishap

France 24 ^ | 23 july 2015 | Anna Smolchenko

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MOSCOW (AFP) -

Astronauts from Russia, Japan and the United States Thursday docked successfully with the International Space Station after a two-month delay, despite a minor hiccup.

The Soyuz TMA 17M rocket -- carrying cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, US astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of Japan -- blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome on schedule after a two-month delay caused by the failure of a Russian rocket during an unmanned resupply mission.

The launch and the docking were successful even though one solar array -- a type of power supply that captures energy from the sun -- did not deploy on time.

Both Russian and US space officials said the mishap did not affect the rocket's flight because the other solar arrays were still operating.

"Now THAT was awesome. Thank you to everyone who made this dream come true!" Lindgren wrote on Twitter.

Russian television broadcast footage of a beaming crew next to Russia's Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko, as well as Scott Kelly of NASA, who welcomed them on board the orbiting lab.

The spacecraft blasted off on schedule from Russian-leased Baikonur in the barren Kazakh steppe at 2102 GMT, and after a fly-around at around 350 metres (1,150 feet), the rocket manoeuvred to dok with the ISS at 0246 GMT.

Russian space officials stressed that the launch had been smooth and the third stage of the Soyuz rocket had separated on time but pointed to a possible problem with solar panels.

"A commission will probably be put together. Of course this situation will be looked into," veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin said in televised remarks.

-'Same happened last year'-

Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister in charge of the space industry, ordered the Roscosmos space agency to resolve the problem.

"The same happened last year," he said, suggesting that a possible manufacturing defect could be to blame.

Scientists and space enthusiasts around the world were watching the launch closely, and with some concern, given the mission had been delayed by two months after the failure of a Russian rocket.

Russia was forced to put all space travel on hold after the unmanned Progress freighter taking cargo to the ISS crashed back to Earth in late April.

The doomed ship lost contact with Earth and burned up in the atmosphere. The failure, which Russia has blamed on a problem in a Soyuz rocket, also forced a group of astronauts to spend an extra month aboard the ISS.

A space workhorse dating back to the Cold War era, the Soyuz is used for both manned and unmanned flights.

Ahead of the launch, the three astronauts said they stood by the Russian space program but conceded that, in space, everything might not go as planned.

"Machinery is machinery. It can let you down," the crew's commander Kononenko, 51, told reporters this month.

The trio will spend 163 days in space, with NASA's Lindgren, 42, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Yui, 45, making their maiden space voyages.

The spacemen said they were Star Wars fans and had chosen the R2-D2 robot, a key character in the film series, as a zero-gravity indicator for their mission.

For the official poster of the ISS Expedition 45, the astronauts posed wearing brown Jedi robes and clutching light sabres.

Sending the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first Sputnik satellite four years earlier are among key accomplishments of the Russian space programme and remain a major source of pride in the country.

But over the past few years, Russia has suffered several major setbacks, notably losing expensive satellites and unmanned supply ships to the ISS.

The United States has struggled with problems of its own, with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploding minutes after liftoff from Florida's Cape Canaveral in June.

In October, US company Orbital's Antares rocket exploded after launch.

by Anna Smolchenko

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© NASA/AFP/File / by Anna Smolchenko | Russia was forced to put all space travel on hold after the unmanned Progress freighter taking cargo to the ISS crashed back to Earth in late April

Here's an article from Japan regarding the Japanese astronaut.

Japanese astronaut Yui reaches space station

BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN – A Soyuz spacecraft carrying astronauts from Japan, Russia and the United States arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday morning nearly six hours after liftoff from Kazakhstan.

Their rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:02 a.m. Japan time and separated from the launch vehicle on schedule nine minutes later. It then reached the ISS, at an altitude of 400 km, at 11:45 a.m.

The crew comprised Soyuz commander Oleg Kononenko, 51, of Russia, flight engineer Kimiya Yui, 45, of Japan, and flight engineer Kjell Lindgren, 42, of the United States.

Yui is the 10th Japanese to travel into space and the fifth to stay at the ISS for a long-term mission. He is tasked with carrying out various experiments in Kibo, Japan’s science research module, during a stay lasting five months.

Calling him a “star of middle-agers,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wished Yui on Thursday “great success in space by utilizing the various experiences he has had.” Abe also mentioned Yui’s background as a test pilot with the Air Self-Defense Force.

About 600 people, including schoolchildren, gathered for a public screening of the event in Yui’s hometown of Kawakami, Nagano Prefecture.

“I was nervous before the launch, but I’m glad it was successful,” said Ayaka Ide, a 13-year-old junior high school student who joined the public viewing from early in the morning. “If I can talk to him, I want to ask what the Earth looks like from outer space.”

Yoshiko Yui, 71, a cousin of Yui’s father, said she was “full of emotions thinking he realized his dream by working diligently.”

The Soyuz spacecraft was initially scheduled for launch on May 27, but its liftoff was postponed for around two months due to an investigation into the cause of a failed launch in April of a Progress resupply craft, which uses a similar rocket.

At an ASDF base in Gifu Prefecture, Maj. Takeshi Kondo, who served as a test pilot with Yui, said, “I remember Yui didn’t like vegetables and had been saying ‘eating capsules would suffice,’ so I think he is fit to be an astronaut.”

He had a message for his former colleague: “Enjoy the view from space.”

In August, when the Japanese unmanned cargo transfer vehicle Kounotori docks at the space station, Yui is scheduled to operate a robotic arm while communicating with astronaut Koichi Wakata on the ground.

At the ISS, U.S. and Russian astronauts have been working to collect basic data that may eventually realize a manned flight to Mars. Yui is set to support their work.

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They had to use a boat hook.

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I remember when the U.S. used to have a space program... good times