Soyuz MS-21
First all-Roscosmos crewed mission to the ISS.
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Soyuz MS-21 carried three Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station, launching from Baikonur on March 18, 2022. This flight marked the first time a Soyuz crew to the ISS consisted entirely of Roscosmos personnel. The mission was originally scheduled for March 30, 2022, but Roscosmos moved it up to March 18 in a provisional manifest finalized by late summer 2020.
Arrival suits
The three cosmonauts entered the station wearing bright yellow suits with blue elements, having changed into and out of different suits. International commentators interpreted the colours as those of the Ukrainian national flag and as a sign of sympathy for Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which strained ISS cooperation after international sanctions on Russia. The cosmonauts stated the yellow suits needed to be used, and Roscosmos said the colours represent the identifying colours of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, from which all three cosmonauts graduated.
Did You Know?
- The three crew members were named in May 2021.
- NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara was preparing to replace Sergey Korsakov if NASA decided to buy a seat on the flight.
- NASA later decided not to acquire a seat on Soyuz MS-21, deferring a seat swap to Soyuz MS-22 and SpaceX Crew-5.
More in Human Spaceflights to the International Space Station
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Soyuz MS-21 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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