A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two astronauts and a NASA astronaut successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, despite damage to the launch pad in Kazakhstan during the flight.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said “damage to several elements of the launch pad was detected” after the mission launched earlier in the day from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
It said repairs would be made quickly, although some Russian space bloggers have warned that the agency may be unable to launch for some time at its only manned-mission site.
Soyuz crew reaches ISS
The Soyuz spacecraft arrived safely at the ISS, where Russian astronauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, are expected to spend eight months in orbit.
The trio is joined by NASA astronauts Mike Finke, Zena Cardman and Johnny Kim; astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky and Oleg Platonov.
Despite strained relations over the war in Ukraine, space remains one of the few areas of cooperation between the US and Russia.
Edited by: Carl Sexton