Today at 20:48 Astana time (17:48 Moscow time), the launch of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft is scheduled from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. A unique specialist from the United States will go into orbit aboard the Russian rocket. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The third member of the international ISS-75 expedition is NASA flight engineer Anil Menon, 49. He is an active colonel of the U.S. Space Force. Previously, he served in the Air Force in Afghanistan, responsible for critical aviation medicine, and also worked as a rescuer and doctor for climbers on Everest.
In 2018, he became the very first chief flight surgeon of SpaceX. Menon created medical protocols for Elon Musk from scratch, prepared the launch of the first crewed Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS, and participated in the development of medical systems for the super-heavy Starship rocket.
For Menon, this is his first flight, which will last 8 months. He is joined on board by experienced Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov (commander) and Anna Kikina.
The delivery of the international crew to orbit will be provided by the Russian three-stage medium-lift Soyuz-2.1a rocket. Its main difference from predecessors is a fully Russian unified digital control and navigation system.
The rocket runs on environmentally safe and proven fuel components — liquid oxygen and kerosene. In addition to the crew, the rocket will launch the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft with 100 kg of cargo, including equipment for 38 scientific experiments.
Live broadcast of pre-launch procedures at Baikonur will begin on Roscosmos resources at 19:20 Astana time (16:20 Moscow time).