Russia's Soyuz spacecraft brings in three astronauts to ISS for a four-month mission

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft has ferried in three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station orbiting outpost for a four-month mission - they are a European, a Russian and an American astronaut. The three are Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and American astronaut Peggy Whitson.
They had been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This has been reported in deccanherald.com dated 20 November 2016.

Thomas Pesquet is a rookie astronaut and an amateur saxophone player. He is the first French national to be sent to the ISS by the European Space Agency since 2008.
Peggy Whitson (56) is an experienced veteran and biochemistry expert.She will break records with this space mission which will give her the title of the most days in space by a US astronaut. She is expected to surpass NASA astronaut Jeff Williams' 534 days on April 24.
In addition, she will become the first woman to command the space station twice. Dhe had previously commanded the International Space Station in 2007, when she became the first woman to hold this post.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to India - mango and visa on the agenda

Air India Express to provide improved air connectivity between Kolkata and Singapore

Mamata Banerjee to visit the United States in 2017 to woo industries


Lord Shiva’s views on Kalighat and marriages (satire)

Moody and the half pant brigade (satire)

Didi’s idea - deflate tyres to punish unruly drivers (satire)


Iraq special forces advanced into Mosul while ISIS militants killed 20

British police have foiled 12 terror plots against Britain in the last three years

No-fly zones to be imposed over jails to prevent drones from being used to smuggle drugs into prisons


Michael Fassbender says no to next James Bond - will a woman take over?

Second trailer of Wonder Woman released- will be in the cinemas in July 2017

Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) begins 11 November

Russian Soyuz space capsule back on Earth with three astronauts from the ISS

A Russian Soyuz space capsule has brought back three astronauts from the ISS and has landed in Kazakhstan. The three astronauts who have come back to Earth are from the United States, Japan and Russia and they are back from a 115-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 31 October 2016.

The landing happened near Dzhezkazgan on the treeless Central Asian steppes. The three who returned are Kate Rubins of NASA, Japan's Takuya Onishi and Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia. They were removed from the capsule and then sat on the steppes still in their capsule seats as they gradually readjusted to the forces of gravity after nearly four months in weightless conditions. Subsequently, they were shifted to a nearby medical tent for initial examination.
With their return, the three who remain on the ISS are Andrei Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhykov of Russia and NASA astronaut Robert Shane Kimbrough. They have arrived on October 22 after a two-day voyage.
Incidentally, the trip back to Earth was much quicker for the three returnees today - it took about 3 1/2 hours from undocking until landing. It landed upright and that made the extraction of the astronauts quicker than when capsules land on their sides.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

Pine needles to produce electricity in Uttarakhand

Lost £250 wedding ring retrieved after the eight million gallon lake was drained

Jakarta to pay $1.5 for every rat caught to contain rat menace


Fuchka Festival in Kolkata and selfies (satire)

Moody fires cannons to eliminate mosquitoes (satire)

Lord Shiva’s Durga puja is about selfish people and selfies (satire)


Carey Mulligan leaves teddy bears outside gates of 10 Downing Street to protest attacks on Aleppo

Battle to liberate Mosul rages and ISIS fighters flee the city dressed as women

Group clashes in prisons in Brazil kill at least 18 inmates


The Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer released

Trailer of xXx: Return of Xander Cage starring Deepika Padukone launched in four Indian languages

Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga to release on 28th January 2017

Three new crew members from US, Russia and Japan on their way to the International Space Station

Three new crew members from US, Russia and Japan were on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). One of them is a NASA biologist. They were successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three are Kate Rubins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. They are traveling in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 7 July 2016.

The three of them will spend two days along with 34 Earth orbits in the course of testing modified systems before docking to the space station's Rassvet module on Saturday. With their arrival, the station's crew complement will come back to six.
Kate Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi will join Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos. The plan for the Expedition 48 crew members is to spend four months conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields ranging from biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development. Rubins holds a bachelor's degree in molecular biology and is also a doctorate in cancer biology.
Ivanishin and Onishi would remain aboard ISS till late October while Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin will return to Earth in September.
One of the assignments for Expedition 48 crew members is to receive and install the station's first international docking adapter which will accommodate future arrivals of US commercial crew spacecraft. Among the various experiments are capabilities for sequencing DNA in space, regulating temperatures aboard spacecraft, understanding bone loss and tracking ships around the world and studying how to protect computers from radiation in space and also test out an efficient, three-dimensional solar cell.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Prince Harry joins Coldplay on the stage in Kensington Palace in aid of charity

Beijing is sinking by 11cm per year due to over consumption of ground water

West Bengal government to install swings, see-saws and slides in schools to check dropouts


Moody embraces yoga, his medics could embrace poverty (satire)

Didi wants to promote small scale industries (satire)

Lord Shiva bamboozled by the storylines of TV serials (satire)


ISIS trying to enter India - 11 youths apprehended in Hyderabad

Gunmen strike a restaurant in Dhaka - 20 killed in the attack

36 killed and more than 147 injured in Ataturk airport suicide attack in Istanbul


Katy Perry creates microblogging history with over 90-million followers on Twitter

Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto and Michelle Obama in Morocco to promote education among girls

Kavita Kaushik to play the role of an Army doctor in TV show “Dr. Bhanumati on Duty”

United States and Russia join forces in preparation of long term Space missions

#InternationalSpaceStation #Soyuzspacecraft #NASA #redplanet On 27 March, a team of three would fly to the International Space Station and two of them will not return soon – they would remain on the ISS so that their fitness can be evaluated by specialists in preparation for sending humans to distant planets like Mars.
This has been reported in space.com dated 23 March 2015.

The three are American astronaut Scott Kelly of NASA and two cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka of Russia – they will blast off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The first two namely Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko would stay on for a whole year and pave the way for future missions of longer durations. It will be the first time that an American would spend a continuous year in space.
Their stay in the ISS for a whole year would help to have a better understanding of how the human body would react and adapt to the harsh environment of space. Based on the findings, suitable decisions can be taken to work out how best to reduce the risks on future long-duration missions to some asteroid and, eventually, the Red Planet Mars.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Nine medical students go to Syria, their families try to bring them back

First Russian woman cosmonaut returns to Earth after six-month stay in ISS

European court terms obesity as a disability

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Sunshine means Vitamin D – good for health in measured dose

SpaceX Dragon berths with International Space Station

#dragonspacecraft #SpaceX #NASA #ISS #soyuzspacecraft With the berthing of the Dragon spacecraft, operated by California-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), humans take yet another step into its venturing out into Space to conquer new barriers.
The Dragon is the first private spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station as reported in space.com dated 30 January 2015 – its duty and responsibility is to transport cargo to and from the ISS and it has commercial agreements with NASA.
SpaceX made its first demonstration flight to the station in May 2012, and then began commercial fights and is currently contracted with NASA to carry out 12 robotic supply flights to the station for a minimum of $1.6 billion.
Ferrying cargo to and from the station is one aspect of SpaceX because it is simultaneously working on a plan to put astronauts on the Dragon spacecraft. For this, the company has received in 2014 an amount of $2.6 billion from NASA for the latest phase of the Commercial Crew Program. The aim is to fly astronauts on American spacecraft by 2017.
For the Commercial Crew Program, Dragon would be modified to accommodate up to seven astronauts – this is three in the Soyuz spacecraft that is being used. SpaceX and NASA are hoping that this capability to carry more astronauts could allow International Space Station crews to expand from the current normal level of six people.