Flight attendant becomes 1st Belarusian in space on ISS-certain Soyuz launch

For the first time, a spacecraft has lifted off with a flight attendant aboard, however there will probably be no drink carrier during the flight.

Marina Vasilevskaya, who additionally served as a flight instructor for Belavia Airlines in her home country of Belarus, traded her attendant uniform for a Russian Sokol stress suit to turn into the first Belarusian to flit into space. On Saturday (March 23), she launched on Russia’s Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft with cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on a mission to the International Space Station.

“Or no longer it is a monumental honor for me and a monumental responsibility to be in this considerable mission,” mentioned Vasilevskaya earlier than heading to the launch pad. “That is our national undertaking. Or no longer it is such a monumental honor. I’m so proud to pronounce our republic.”

The three crewmates left Pad 31/6 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan at 8:36 a.m. EDT (1236 GMT or 4:36 p.m. native time) riding atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket. It used to be their second strive at launching to space after a low voltage warning from a share of ground lend a hand equipment halted the countdown on Thursday.

Nine minutes into the flight, a dinky figurine of “Sharik,” the dark and white pet from the Soviet-generation cartoon “A Kitten Named Woof,” started to float while connected to a tether.

The toy, or “zero-g indicator,” signaled that Novitsky, Dyson and Vasilevskaya had entered Earth orbit. The Soyuz used to be now on a trajectory to autonomously dock with the station after circling the planet 34 instances. The 2 spacecraft are scheduled to link collectively using Russia’s Prichal node at 11:09 a.m. EDT (1509 GMT) Monday.

Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya will probably be aboard the station for roughly 12 days, after which they’re going to return to Earth with O’Hara on Soyuz MS-24. The three will disappear the orbiting laboratory for a landing on the steppe of Kazakstan on April 6.

To enable Vasilevskaya’s short talk over with as a spaceflight participant, Kononenko and Chub will remain on the station for another six months. After a yearlong dwell, they’re going to advance home with Dyson on Soyuz MS-25 in September.

Vasilevskaya, 33, used to be selected to flit by the Belarus Academy of Sciences and Belarus Space Agency thru a nationwide contest. She used to be one of six finalists from a pool of better than 3,000 female candidates and used to be in the close chosen over another flight attendant, two scientists and two doctors. Anastasia Lenkova, a 28-year-aged pediatric surgeon, used to be named Vasilevskaya’s backup.

“Her work ethic is surely noteworthy,” mentioned Dyson of Vasilevskaya in an interview with collectSPACE.com. “She’s a flight attendant. That is her day job and, as you know, flight attendants don’t honest correct help drinks. They’re primarily responsible for our personal security on board the plane and so she’s no stranger to emergency situations and what to fabricate and the blueprint in which one can dwell serene during them. She’s demonstrated that in our sims and our training collectively, especially folks who involve putting masks on our heads and changing from one suit to another, so she has surely been a pride to work with.”

“She’s surely stepped up to irrespective of role she’s been assigned and what she lacks in journey as a cosmonaut she makes up for with a gargantuan perspective,” mentioned Dyson.

Before serving on Boeing and Embraer plane for Belavia, Vasilevskaya devoted 15 years to competing as a professional ballroom dancer.

Novitsky, 52, is making his fourth flight to the space station as commander of Soyuz MS-25. A retired lieutenant colonel in the Russian Air Drive, he previously logged better than 531 days in space on his three prior missions in 2013, 2017 and 2021. He joined Russia’s cosmonaut corps in 2006.

Dyson, 54, is on her third mission to the space station following a space shuttle talk over with in 2007 and a long-duration dwell in 2010. She has already logged better than 188 days in space. A chemist with a doctorate from the College of California at Davis, Dyson joined NASA with its 17th neighborhood of astronauts in 1998.

Dyson and Vasilevskaya are the first two ladies to launch collectively on board a Russian spacecraft. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and South Korean spaceflight participant Soyeon Yi previously landed collectively aboard Soyuz TMA-11 in 2007.

MS-25 is Russia’s 71st Soyuz to launch for the International Space Station since 2000 and the 154th to flit since 1967.