Soyuz MS-26

Soyuz MS-26

Soyuz MS-26 approaches the International Space Station
Names	ISS 72S
Mission type	ISS crew transport
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2024-162A
SATCAT no.	61043
Mission duration	220 days, 8 hours and 57 minutes
Distance travelled	150,200,000 km (93,300,000 mi) [1]
Orbits completed	3,520 [1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz MS-26 No. 757
Spacecraft type	Soyuz MS
Manufacturer	Energia
Launch mass	7,152 kg (15,767 lb) [2]
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Aleksey Ovchinin Ivan Vagner Donald Pettit
Callsign	Burlak
Expedition	Expedition 71/72
Start of mission
Launch date	11 September 2024, 16:23:12 (2024-09-11UTC16:23:12Z)  UTC (21:23:12  AQTT)
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1a No. M15000-070 [2]
Launch site	Baikonur, Site 31/6
Contractor	RKTs Progress
End of mission
Landing date	20 April 2025 01:20:35 UTC
Landing site	Kazakh Steppe, 147 km (91 mi) southeast of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan ( 47°19′N69°33′E / 47.317°N 69.550°E / 47.317; 69.550 ) [2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Rassvet nadir
Docking date	11 September 2024, 19:32:09 UTC
Undocking date	19 April 2025, 21:57:33 UTC
Time docked	220 days, 2 hours and 25 minutes
Mission patch, which depicts the three crew members as Burlak (the mission's callsign) pulling the Soyuz [3] From left: Vagner, Ovchinin and Pettit Soyuz programme (crewed) ←  Soyuz MS-25 Soyuz MS-27  →

Soyuz MS-26, Russian production No. 757 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 72S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight launched from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 11 September 2024 to the International Space Station. ^{[4] [5] [6]} The mission transported three crew members, Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.

When the spacecraft crossed the Karman line shortly after launch, there was a record 19 people in outer space: the three astronauts on the MS-26 mission, three more on China's Tiangong space station, four people on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, and nine more on board the International Space Station. ^[7]

Crew

Prime crew

Position [8]	Crew
Commander	Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos Expedition 71/72 Third [a] spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos Expedition 71/72 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Donald Pettit, NASA Expedition 71/72 Fourth spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos
Pilot	Alexey Zubritsky, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer	Jonny Kim, NASA

Gallery

• 
  Soyuz MS-26 atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket shortly after it was erected
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 launches atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 docked to the Rassvet module
• 
  Ovchinin at the controls of Soyuz MS-26 in space during pre-departure fit checks
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 descends back to the Kazakh Steppe under a parachute
• 
  From left: Pettit, Ovchinin, Vagner inside Soyuz MS-26 after landing

Notes

1. Not counting the aborted flight of Soyuz MS-10.

References

1. Taveau, Jessica (19 April 2025). "NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, Crewmates Complete Space Station Expedition". NASA . Retrieved 22 April 2025.
2. Zak, Anatoly (11 September 2024). "Soyuz MS-26 lifts off". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
3. "NASA's oldest active astronaut launches on 'next flight' on Soyuz MS-26". collectSPACE. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
4. Zak, Anatoly (25 March 2024). "Space exploration in 2024". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
5. "Better Late Than Never: New ISS Crew Prepares to Fly, All-Female EVAs Possible in October – AmericaSpace". www.americaspace.com. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
6. "Госкорпорация «Роскосмос»". Telegram. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
7. "NASA's oldest active astronaut launches on 'next flight' aboard Soyuz". CollectSpace.com . 11 September 2024.
8. Donaldson, Abbey A. (27 March 2024). "NASA Astronaut Don Pettit to Conduct Science During Fourth Mission". NASA.

External links

• Media related to Soyuz MS-26 at Wikimedia Commons