September 9, 2015: The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station for a ten-day mission, providing visual proof of a little bit of every day magic: in space, “up” is optional.
#Soyuz plasma trail lights the way home. Welcome back to #Earth, guys! pic.twitter.com/Cw3c4wQA1T
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) September 12, 2015
The Soyuz spacecraft carried ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov to the space station. The mission launched out of Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 2nd, taking the longer route to dock several days later. The Soyuz’s arrival marked the beginning of the 10-day iriss mission, ending when Mogensen, Aimbetov, and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka returned to Earth on September 12, 2015 in a different, older Soyuz spacecraft (Soyuz TMA-16M).
Soyuz TMA-16M landing on September 12, 2015. Image credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja
Image credit: NASA/ESA
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