Two Russians and an American joined the International Space Station

Opposed by the war in Ukraine, the United States and Russia nevertheless continue to collaborate in certain areas. Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut joined the International Space Station on Friday, September 15, to replace another Russian-American crew.

>> How the International Space Station became the last space of understanding with Russia since the war in Ukraine

The new arrivals are the American Loral O’Hara and the Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Tchoub. They took off from the Russian Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-24 rocket, and reached the ISS safely three hours later, the Russian space agency announced.

They relay a crew trapped by damage

Thursday, during a press conference before departure, Loral O’Hara presented the ISS as “a symbol of peace and cooperation”. “Unlike what happens on Earth (…) where nations often do not get along, we get along well up there, we understand each other and we are very sensitive to our relationships. We always look out for each other.”agreed Oleg Kononenko.

They will take over from the Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitri Peteline and the American Frank Rubio, who arrived aboard the ISS a year ago. Their mission had been extended due to the damage to their return ship, the Soyuz MS-22, which suffered a spectacular leak in December 2022 while docked with the ISS, due according to Moscow to the impact of a micrometeorite.